A/N: For anyone who was wondering and I haven't already answered, yes, blood is really blue. I think I answered anyone who asked up to this point... Anyway. Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter Five: Touch

LPOV

I woke up slowly.

I could only remember how peaceful my sleep had been, more so than ever before.

A guardian of dreams.

I glanced over at Jasper, who was awake already.

He smiled. "Good morning," he greeted softly.

I sat up, running a hand through my hair. It amazed me that he had stayed there the whole night. He had no means of transportation, yes, but he could go. Unlike me, he had nothing nailing his feet to the ground in New Haven.

I returned the smile, still shocked. He was the strangest man I had ever met, but the most beautiful too. He was fascinating to me, even after a week of not seeing him.

"Would you like breakfast?" I asked.

Jasper studied me. "No, thank you. I should go actually," he replied, and he stood.

I jumped up, ready to beg him to stay. I truly enjoyed every moment with him. He made everything so easy. Life wasn't much of a battle anymore. He had some odd power swarming about him and I didn't know what it was exactly.

It just was. There was nothing wrong with the unexplained when it was about him.

Jasper sent me a small smile, pained. "I'll see you in class tomorrow," he announced, but that was more than a full day away. I could not argue with him though. His voice was firm, and he looked exhausted.

I nodded. "Okay," I whispered.

Jasper walked towards the door slowly and I followed even slower. "Do you want a ride?"

Jasper shook his head. "No." He leaned against the door instead of opening it. "Thank you for everything," he said quietly, his words filled with meaning I could not decipher. "You don't know what it means to me, what it's done."

"No damage, I hope," I said. I didn't want him to go!

Jasper shook his head again, studying my face in a unique way. His hand twitched towards mine for a moment, but it stopped and then retreated. I already knew how cold his skin was. It scared me at first. Now I expected the temperature and didn't mind so much.

No more words were spoken and he only sent one more glance at me. Then he left, hands in his pockets as he slowly strolled down the hallway. I watched him go until he was out of sight, then I turned to go clean my wreck of an apartment, do homework, whatever I could find to distract myself from the countdown.

Thirty-two hours until I would see Jasper again, and sleep wouldn't be so easy without him there.

I sighed deeply, even in disappointment.

Jasper was gone and there was nothing left to entertain me. I had to fend for myself.

The day was longer than I liked. I did all my homework and wrote a four page paper that wasn't due for a week. I cleaned every inch of our apartment, both bedrooms, the kitchen, the bathroom, and especially the main room. I found Jasper's suit on the floor, the bag in perfect condition. I knew him well enough to know he wouldn't leave it on purpose.

My room was rearranged to fit our beds in it more easily. Amber gave me the closet; she got the dresser. Since we were sharing, Brit gave us the bigger room and the balcony for me. It was only used for me to paint every now and then and to play my guitar on when I got too bored.

I moved our beds to the opposite sides of the room with the dresser at the end of Amber's, the bookshelf and chair at the end of mine. We had a love seat against the third wall and a walk in closet that connected to Brit's room. A nightstand was set between our beds with our essentials--iPods, cellphone chargers, my computer. There was a second computer in Brit's room, a desktop that we never used. We had to sit on the floor to use it, which wasn't very comfortable. It was just for printing stuff.

None of my hundreds of hooks could hold my attention.

The fridge and cabinets were full. There was no reason to leave the apartment at all, but there was nothing to do without leaving.

I called my aunt and uncle. They kept me busy for two hours together and Travis talked to me for three more hours. That, plus making dinner, kept me busy. Brit came home first, bringing me coffee and cheesecake. "Oh, god, I love you!" I exclaimed with a smile, relieved to have someone to talk to finally.

"So what happened with Jasper last night?"

I expected that much at least. There was no insane accusations of me sleeping with him, but I could tell he was too respectful for that. He was much too polite about everything. I leaned against the counter thoughtfully, my eyes on the floor. I had just stopped thinking of Jasper and now the thoughts were back, worse than ever. Why did he stay anyway? He had two wonderful friends in his brothers, what seemed like a great family. What was so special about me and my psychotic roomies?

I shrugged. "We talked for some time. I fell asleep first," I replied.

Brit nodded. "I woke up at my usual seven in the morning for work. He was staring at you, wide awake. Lace, he was so awake that he couldn't have been woken up by my alarm. It was creepy!"

I met her eyes. She wouldn't lie about such things, but why would Jasper stay up all night? It was just another thought of one of the mysteries he'd put on my plate. Pale skin, ice cold, no sleep... His strange manners, the gentlemanly ways, the beauty... All of it was a new mystery each time I thought of it...

"He probably couldn't sleep," I said.

"If you actually believe that, you've lost it," Brit told me gently. She paused while I stirred the soup. "Do you like him?"

I sighed. "It's not that simple, Brit. It's not like a crush... but... I like him as a person. I like the things he does, but it's not like that, okay? It's complex," I finished in a whisper.

Brit stared. "Lace, that makes no sense! You look like you've been working all day too. The millionaire puts in some good hard labor after all?" She was joking to make me smile; it succeeded. She gave me three plates to serve up. "I should go car shopping. It's faster than walking to and from work, even if it's just a few blocks."

I nodded thoughtfully, staring into the pot of food. Jasper hadn't eaten one bite all the time we were together. That was one more thing that confused me. We had all kinds of delicious food! His brothers hadn't eaten either.

I sighed heavily. "We should go dress shopping sometime this week for the ball," I commented with a smile. Just me and my roomies liked to go out shopping alone sometimes. We could find dresses more easily without a hundred people there anyway.

"Sure. Did Jasper ask you to go?" Brit gestured to the bag with his suit.

"No, he didn't even say if he was going."

"Mm... I'm gonna take a shower."

I didn't reply.

Once Amber got home, we watched Law and Order: Special Victims Unit for the rest of the night. I went to bed first to write a few emails. I wrote a total of twelve emails to various friends from Los Angeles before I shut down my computer and tried to sleep.

It was almost Monday! I would see Jasper in less time now. I could sleep the eight, nine hours, and then go to campus early to kill time. Jasper would be at class, or so I hoped. I wanted to see him. We'd spent so much time together, and I knew so little about him. Any small amount of information would be nice.

I wrote more while I made breakfast. It distracted me. Both Amber and Brit entertained me with talk of the party while I was gone at the store. Taylor and Tenny were ready to disappear through half of it, which didn't surprise me. I laughed. Tennille was one of my best friends at the university. Since she'd started dating Taylor, I hardly ever saw her. They were an adorable couple, very obvious.

I left the apartment at four with two books to read, my computer, the books I needed for class, and my iPod.

Two hours killed on campus, and Jasper arrived over an hour early. He was alone though, driving a gorgeous Jaguar XFR. I grew up with an older brother, only nineteen months older though, and my uncle Nathan alone until he got married when I was sixteen. I knew quite a bit about cars. I knew his black Jaguar cost about eighty grand, more than three times what my truck cost.

He had a lot of money!

I reached into the back seat of my truck to get his suit. He nodded when I held it out before he reached me. "Yes, I did forget it. I apologize for not taking better care," he said with a smile. It was relieved! But he wore a black hoodie that shaded his face when it wasn't very cold, even for the California girl. He stood in the shadow of my truck too...

I smiled. "It's fine. Nice ride," I commented.

Jasper glanced over his shoulder. "Thanks, but really, I don't think I should have spent so much on a stupid car."

I laughed. "It's hardly stupid. I love Jaguars!" I loved the car too, and so I told him. He stared at me momentarily; he seemed pleased then. "Where's Emmett?" I asked quietly. Emmett was like a big brother to me already, which was slightly scary. He liked to tease me, especially about my size, but he was twice my weight at the least. From his point of view, there was quite a bit lacking and even more to tease me about.

"He'll be here for class," Jasper told me.

I nodded once in understanding. "So why'd you come early then?"

Jasper turned to look at me. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I do realize that the ball isn't really a date thing, but..." He ducked his head--he was nervous! "I want to pay you back for the suit and request that you accompany me to the ball," he announced, more boldly then. He said it with courage while still being shy. "I'll pay for the tickets, and pick you up if you'd like."

I smiled. "Sure. I'd love to go," I answered, but that would be my first date in forever! Yes, it was strange. I trusted Jasper more than any one boy I'd dated before. I wasn't sure if I was ready to go on a date with anyone. It'd only been a few months.

Well, I guess I would find out.

"So why don't you have a girlfriend?" I asked. Even if it was soon and maybe rude, I was curious about it more than ever. He'd opened the door to it in a way.

Jasper shrugged. "I guess I'm not ready to have a girl, and I'm not the kind of boy who wants to date everyone. Or anyone. I'm waiting for someone like me," he explained thoughtfully, watching my face as he spoke each word and waiting for some change to come. "And why don't you have a boyfriend?"

I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply as I leaned against my back fender. "I did. I used to. We were a good couple. Then he bailed out." I smiled up at him, past the point of grief where the tears came. I shrugged casually. "I'm not sure what happened really. He just... vanished one day. I cried about it for a while, a few weeks, then I decided that he wasn't worth any of it. I haven't been on a date for months, so I'll warn you: I'm out of practice."

Jasper nodded. "I am too! I haven't been a date in years and years." He smiled.

I returned it, wondering why he sounded so strange whenever he spoke. Almost amused but still ashamed? I chewed on my lip thoughtfully. We had to find something to talk about. "So why do you live with your foster parents still?" I asked.

"Because they helped me a lot, more than I can describe. There's still so much more to do, so they asked me to stay and I did."

I frowned a bit. "Why do I feel like there's more to the story?" I asked, meeting his eyes. They were darker... No longer golden brown and not any shade around that. They were almost black now...

Jasper let his lips turn up a bit. "Because there is," he replied. "But that's not quite important."

I nodded. "Okay. Then what happened to your biological parents?" I inquired.

"They died a long time ago."

"Everything seems to have happened a long time ago," I muttered.

Jasper smiled, then came close to laughing. He cleared his throat awkwardly again. An unsocial person trying to socialize? "Yeah, most things did," he said softly. "Tell me, do you always notice every small detail there is?"

"So it would seem."

Jasper leaned back in what seemed like frustration, and I almost understood. He claimed he was a dangerous monster only a week ago, now he was content with me there. He didn't even think twice from what I could see in his eyes. Not that I could read minds; I couldn't. I couldn't even read his face or his now dark eyes. I couldn't do any of that. I knew nothing about him.

"What happened to your parents?" Jasper asked suddenly, surprising me.

I shook my head distantly. "It doesn't really matter," I told him, and that much was true. Neither of my parents were in my life for more than what they wanted to be in, and I hardly considered them parents.

Jasper narrowed his eyes at me. "You wouldn't say that unless it did matter," he pointed out, not meeting my eyes. His tone was firm, yet still gentle and it made me want to tell him. I hated when people, especially near strangers like him, had that quality.

I folded my arms. You can never get to know a person without talking to them... "Um... Well, my mom was a German ballet dancer and my dad was a Cuban actor. They had their whole lives ahead of them. My mom had Travis when she was at the highlight of her career. She had me nineteen months later, and that ended her career. My dad said he could get her into acting, so they left me and Trav with my uncle Nathan. He raised us because my parents almost never came around. They sent us a few presents, postcards from whatever city they were in when they remembered and cared enough to send it, and we each got our trust fund, but it doesn't really make a parent," I concluded softly, my heart beating fast with anger I'd held inside for so long. I hated my parents and telling Jasper meant I showed some vulnerability.

Jasper studied me. He looked hesitant, and of course, in pain, but he slowly reached out to touch my arm. I was surprised by the move, not the cold touch. I showed the exact same amount of hesitation before I smiled at him and he wrapped one arm around me. An awkward hug, unexperienced from what I could guess. I hooked my arm around his waist, my heart about to stop.

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