Beyond Expectations

Who: Jessalyn and Madock
When: 4:00pmish
Where: Ice Skating/Joey's Cafe

For it being a first date, Jessalyn wasn't nervous. She had thought she would have been, but throughout the school day she had been walking around with confidence, and a smile on her face. Which granted, the second wasn't too unusual, but she wasn't feeling the anxious butterflies that she thought would be plaguing her. She felt good about her upcoming date, and even if it didn't work out romantically, she was positive she had made a friend. A cute one. After school, Jessalyn drove home and changed from her skirt into a pair of jeans. It was a rare thing for her to wear jeans, even in the winter. She liked flowing things, but she figured if she felt while ice skating, she didn't want to flash everyone, or get a cold bum in the process. Pulling on a light pink sweater, Jessalyn quickly curled parts of her hair and put on some pineapple lip gloss. She figured she looked okay enough. She didn't want to pile on the make up or overwhelm with perfume. That would drive her own nosy batty.

Kissing her mom goodbye, she got the car keys and headed out. It was a strange thing to be driving and going on a date with ghosts still in town. Everywhere. But no one had come up with any answers as to why they were here, and none of the ghosts were causing any havoc. And as Jessalyn had said before, she found it to be romantic in an eerie way. She drove to the address Madock had given her, and when she pulled up to the house, she saw him waiting outside. Smiling brightly, she unlocked the doors and leaned over the other seat to wave at him, just in case he didn't know it was her.

He realized it was her as she pulled to a stop and he grinned at her, getting up from the front step and heading towards the car. "Easy to find?" he questioned as he reached for the handle and pulled the door open, sliding himself inside. He felt out of place, being the passenger and letting a girl pick him up for a change, but he kept that to himself. He didn't care who was driving. It was a date! And that was awesome enough to let a girl drive for once.

As soon as he'd got home that afternoon, he'd showered, shaved, put on some clean jeans and a sweater and jerking his black hoodie on over that, hell he'd even done something with his hair. Sort of. It was always unruly and all over the place, but it had gel in it at the moment and that was more than it got on most days. He'd been careful not to overdo the cologne too. Girls didn't like guys who bathed in the stuff right?

"Definitely! I have really good sense of direction," Jessalyn told him, immediately able to smell his cologne, despite the fact that he hadn't put too much on. It was just enough that she liked it. "You look nice! I like your hair." Once he was inside the car, she put it into drive and started off toward the skating rink. He had shaved too, she noted. It made her feel good that he'd obviously taken the time to look nice for her, like she had for him.

He willed his skin not to turn pink at her noticing his hair. At telling him that he looked nice. For a moment he was quiet then he realized he probably should have told her she looked nice too. And she did. God did she look nice. Dude, say it out loud. "You like nice... too." he smiled. "Thanks. For the compliment and the whole picking me up thing." he added.

Jessalyn glanced at him with a grin. "Oh! Thanks." Okay, good! He thought she looked nice... that was good. So the pink sweater and curly hair was the right decision. Feeling pleased, Jessalyn tapped her fingers lightly on the steering wheel. "You're welcome for both. It's a nice day, er sun wise, but it's a little too cold to be walking, especially if we're going to be ice skating and everything. I think we'd both be freezing by the end of it."

"Yeah, at least we can postpone the freezing part for a little while." he smiled. He bit his lower lip and glanced out the window, getting caught up in the trees as they went by. Like all conversations with Madock Barrow, there was a random pause before he spoke again, picking up on an entirely different topic. "So, you totally can't laugh at me when I bust my butt. I can almost feel it coming already." And he knew it would be. Knew his butt and the ice were going to become intimate acquaintances before the day was through.

"That's what the hot chocolate part afterward is for," Jessalyn reminded him with a soft giggle. She didn't mind that he fell silent, staring out the window. She didn't mind silence at all, as long as it wasn't awkward. Which she didn't feel this was. When he spoke again, she glanced at him and pretended to pout. "I can't? But what if it's funny? I mean, you can totally laugh at me when I fall. Why do you think I wore jeans? I know I'll be spending more time sitting on the ice than skating on it."

"Well, when you put it that way..." he chuckled, shaking his head. "I guess you can laugh at me. Since I can laugh at you. At least we'll look like total dorks together." And that was at least partly reassuring. He wouldn't be the only one falling down. It'd be a lot easier to not blush himself to death if she was busy losing her balance just as much as he was.

"Deal," Jessalyn said, laughing as she turned into the parking lot of the skating rink. "I have no problem whatsoever looking like a dork. And it's even better to be in the presence of another dork!" Parking, Jessalyn took off her seatbelt and reached behind her into the backseat to grab her bag. "We'll just try not to bruise ourselves too badly. Hopefully we won't have much of an audience."

Madock climbed out of the car and kept a slow walk next to the girl. His legs were longer than hers, he was taller and his strides were further apart, so he ended up walking pretty slow to keep in time with her and not look like he was rushing ahead. He was honestly surprised that the rink was even open with all the craziness. There were a few stray people around the ice, but not as many as a normal day would have seen. "Well, at least we don't have a ton of people to laugh at us." he grinned. He'd brought his ice skates with him. He'd gotten them on the off chance that he actually learned how to skate eventually, now he was glad he had as they sat on a bench near the ice to slip into their skates. "So, how many times have you done this?" he questioned, eyes flicking to the ice and then back to her as he laced up skate number one.

The skating rink was pretty dead but for a few people here and there. The employees behind the desk at the front looked pretty bored themselves. She toed off her shoes and pulled on the dingy white skate. "Uhm, a couple times? Not very many. My mom and dad would bring us on the weekends, since there's not a lot to do in Marquette when the weather gets cold. I can generally stay upright, but... my brother's a lot more graceful than I am." Which was funny, given she was the werewolf, and he wasn't. "What about you?"

"Here? Like... once maybe. I planned on coming out more often. Getting the hang of the ice stuff since it's cold and junk here. There was a rink back home, went there a couple of times, but I'm not a Olympic skater, that's for sure." He finished lacing up his other skate and tucked his shoes under the bench, and carefully stood up. "Well, at least I have busted my tail yet. That's definitely an improvement."

"It's okay to wobble around every now and then." She tied her other skate tight and pulled her jeans down over it before she got up. Grabbing her bag, she walked somewhat awkwardly to the lockers and shoved it into one. Shutting it, she turned back toward him with a smile. "Aw. Come on, you won't bust your tail. Just keep telling yourself that you won't fall. Power of persuasion or something! Like me? I won't fall! I'll skate well enough to stay on my feet." She sounded confident, even though she really wasn't. Using the wall along the entrance to the ice, she held onto as she stepped out onto the rink. Immediately she began to slide and she turned to cling with both arms to the wall. "See? I haven't fallen yet."

"Yet." he grinned, managing to get onto the ice without falling himself. He didn't hold onto the wall, determined to be the pro at this at least pro compared to the girl clinging to the edge. He smiled at her when he reached her, fingers finding her waist from behind and slowly pulling her away from the wall. "Come on, can't latch onto the edge forever..." he persuaded her. He half wondered if touching without permission was knocking his cool factor down a few notches, but for the moment, he ignored that thought.

Jessalyn certainly didn't mind him touching her at all, since she liked him and trusted him enough that she knew he wouldn't hurt her. It felt kind of nice when he did touch her though, and her skin tingled under her clothes. She grinned and let him pull her away from the wall. She wobbled a bit and shifted around quickly to grab onto him, breathing once she was sure she wasn't going to fall. "Okay... so maybe it's been awhile since I've done this," Jessalyn said sheepishly. She straightened, but stayed close to him. "If we both go down, you can soften the blow for me," she teased.

He tried hard to keep from biting his lower lip when she turned around to face him, but he just couldn't seem to keep from doing it. So he did, but only for a second before grinning through it. "Yeah, well, this time you can land on top of me instead of the other way around. At least I can't get bruises from you." No more than a feather could bruise a coconut. She was teeny and he was holding onto him and she hadn't swatted his hands away when he touched her. That was freaking awesome. Like through the roof awesome. He slid one skate back slightly and then the other followed suit as he slowly pulled her further out onto the ice, desperately trying to keep from falling and pulling them both down. "Guess this isn't so bad." he smiled.

She did have a small bruise on her leg from when he'd fallen on top of her - but it had been totally worth it. Jessalyn smiled as they skated out further onto the ice, feeling more confident, though she didn't really want to pull away from him. "Not so bad... but we can't just skate around in circles," Jessalyn told him. "That gets boring after awhile! Once you get your footing, you have to try things... like, skating backward, or spinning around. Or if you can't do that, you at least try to skate a bit faster than you normally would. I just don't know how to put the brakes on, which means I would either fall at some point, or skate right into the wall." Which had happened before.

He smiled again at the girl and slowly, reluctantly released her waist from one hand and let the other slide to her hand, taking it in his. "Well, can't skate in circles." he agreed. "So, we gotta get used to skating forward, right? Best way to do that is holding onto each other. You start to think you're going down, just hold tighter to me." Madock suggested. "I start going down, I'm letting you go." he chuckled. The last thing he wanted to do was jerk the girl down with him, though the thought of her falling on top of him did have it's appeal.

She was trying her best to pay attention to him and not freak out that he was holding her hand. Because he was. And it wasn't a friendly thing either, was it? Or a comforting gesture. It was definitely different. Smiling up at him, she nodded at his instructions. "I'll definitely, er, try to grab onto you without taking you down with me. You might think I'm too small to take you down - since you play football and everything - but if you're wobbly on skates, then there's a chance one slip would take you down too." She laced her fingers through his, glad that she didn't wear her mittens. "Let's try the skating forward thing and see if we can get a few feet without stumbling."

Madock was beginning to think that he might be stuck smiling. Especially when she linked those tiny fingers through his. And maybe they weren't so tiny and his were just abnormally large. That thought had him completely lost in his brain for a minute or two before he realized she'd wanted to skate forward. "Okay." he finally said, giving her hand a little squeeze and experimentally moving a foot forward on the ice.

"See?" she said, once he began to move and didn't automatically tumble. "Not so bad!" Jessalyn found she was starting to get the hang of it herself and she skated beside him, quite liking the sound of their skates on the ice. The few people who were on the ice with them weren't really any better, but for a young girl who Jessalyn was sure was probably a figure skater. "So besides football, what do you like to do? I mean, I know you said you like to go to parties and stuff, but I mean like, on your own."

"Anything really." he said with a little shrug. He was getting the hang of the whole skating thing too, but he wasn't going to let her in on that. Her fingers were warm twined through his and he didn't want to have to let them go any time soon if he could help it. "I like listening to music... reading... Um... watching tv. Same stuff as everybody else I guess. What about you? Got any secret hobbies?" Madock questioned with a little smile directed her way.

"Same stuff as you... I don't know if my hobbies are secret, but I like to make things. Er, clothes, and little crafty things. Hats, scarves, my own clothes... it's fun to just be able to give people random gifts when they're not expecting them. I guess I spend more time knitting, or at my sewing machine, then watching tv and stuff. My room is a total disaster area because I don't really have a lot of places to store all my supplies and everything." It was why her mom requested she keep her bedroom door shut all the time. Her mom hated seeing the mess from the hall. "What kind of music do you listen to?"

She made her own clothes? That was cool. Interesting. Not many girls their age did things like that, but it was nifty. Kinda quirky. Something totally up her alley. "That's neat." he smiled. "So you just sew or knit all day when you're at the house?" he questioned, but he didn't give her time to answer because she'd totally asked a question hadn't she? "Um... a little bit of everything. I kinda like classical music, but shhh, I got this bad ass jock rep going and I don't want the guys getting a whiff of that news." He could practically hear them teasing him now for something like that.

"I don't do it all day when I'm home. Most of the time I have to be inspired or something... I don't like forcing myself to do it. Boredom helps though. Sometimes I play games with my sister and brother, or I help my mom clean the house. Exciting right?" Admittedly, Jessalyn was a bit surprised that Madock listened to classical music and she was sure it showed on her face as she snapped her gaze up to his face. "Really? Classical? Do you find it relaxing or something? I can't see a football player listening to Mozart to pump himself up for the big game or anything..."

He shrugged, but grinned. He knew it was a weird admittance, but that was just one of his secret guilty pleasures. "Seriously. I have mix CD's that say 'mix' on them, but they're just full of classical stuff. Usually." he told her. "Keeps the guys from thinking I'm a total dweeb. Or my sister, Breezy, I'm sure she'd just eat that up if she knew." Oh she would, he knew that. She'd tease him until there were no dorky names to call him, and then she'd make up something and use those new words.

"Oh, well I don't think you're a dweeb. Besides, people who listen to classical music are probably smarter than ones who listen to country or heavy metal. Or maybe I'm totally wrong and just going by what I think." She thought it was really interesting that he listened to that kind of music. He definitely didn't fit the dumb jock mold at all. Not that she ever really thought he had. "Who's your favorite composer then?"

"I really like Mozart." he told her. "To think how much shit he wrote when he wasn't even a live that long. Most of it was when he was a kid. And Beethoven too. He was deaf for most of his stuff. He couldn't even hear what he was playing. He had to like saw the legs of his piano and put it on the floor so he could pound the keys and feel the vibrations through the floor to write his pieces. That's dedication. To love something so much that even when you can't experience it the same way as before, you refuse to give it up."

"Mozart died young... didn't he? I think I remember hearing that. I saw that movie about him on tv one night." She tried to remember the name of it, but it was slipping her mind. She glided along on her skates, nodding as he spoke, her eyes winding in understanding. "I know! Like that guy from that music group? Def Leppard! The drummer who lost his arm in that car accident? And he didn't want to give up music, so he learned to play with only one arm? That's... er, maybe not exactly the same." She flushed a bit, feeling silly. "But sort of fits what you're talking about. He I wish I loved something that much. I don't know if I could keep sewing if I lost my sight, you know? I would probably sew my fingers together."

"Yeah, he was young when he died." Madock nodded. "And I think I've seen that movie too. Amadeus." He listened to her as she talked about the drummer and loved her train of thought going from classical to well, Def Leppard. That was just awesome. "Exactly!" he exclaimed, turning a bit so he could get in front of her. "Dude this is totally probably a bad idea." he grinned. "Backwards skating. I'm so going to fall on my..." He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before he lost his concentration and working his mouth and feet became too much of a challenge. He wobbled a little and then tipped over, trying to unwind his fingers from hers before he hit the ice.

Jessalyn immediately felt better when he agreed with her, and she smiled brightly, more so when he managed to get in front of her and skate backwards. Her lips parted in pleased surprise but she didn't get to comment because he was wobbling and then falling! Instinct told her to try and keep him upright, and even though he was trying to release her, she shrieked and tightened her hold on him to try and help. Of course, he was a football player, and she was... so not. Her skates moved abruptly against the ice, throwing her off balance and she went down with him. It should have hurt. It probably would later, but she was way too busy laughing to even think about pain or embarrassment.

"Spoke too soon." he chuckled once he'd managed to stop laughing. She'd ended up pretty much on top of him, her legs between his and god if they were in this position in any other place... No, don't think like that! Do you want a boner while she's pressed against your junk? Idiot! His face went a little red at his thoughts, but he pushed them away with another little laugh. "Didn't mean to knock you over." he apologized. "Told you I'd fall on my butt."

"But it's okay!" Jessalyn was still giggling when she lifted her head up to look at him. "Because you at least tried! And even though you fell, at least you fell doing something new." She noted how his face turned a little red and then she realized she was laying on top of him, pressed up against him in a ... particular way. Jessalyn grinned down at him and placed her hands on the ice on either side of him for leverage. "I guess we're even now, right? You fell on me, and I've fallen on you." She scooted back onto her knees so that he could sit up. She would have liked to stay there, but they were in public, on ice and... she imagined it wasn't the most comfortable position for him, for a couple reasons.

He wouldn't have minded had she stayed there, but it was public, even if there were only a few stray people around the nice. When she shifted back, he pulled his legs out from around her body, careful of the blades on the bottoms of his skates. He got to his knees too and then, by some amazingly wonderful stroke of luck, managed to get to his feet again, then reached down to help the girl up. "You got a point there." he smiled. "Coulda been worse, I didn't break anything at least." he chuckled. "And I think I'd rather you fall on me than vice versa anytime."

She grabbed his hands and pulled herself up cautiously, not wanting to slip and fall again. "I would rather we didn't fall on each other at all! But if it's gonna happen, at least we aren't hurting ourselves." Jessalyn grinned, wobbled again, and then straightened. "Maybe next time we should try something that keeps us on our feet, like bowling or something. There should be no falling down in bowling, unless you cross the lane line and slip on the wax! It's a much safer sport."

It was then that Madock's brain and Madock's mouth worked together to embarrass the hell out of him. "But if we're bowling, I don't have an excuse to hold hands with you now do I?" No sooner did the words slip past his lips did he clamp his mouth shut and blush a furious shade of red. His ears and neck burned beneath the flush and he swallowed. God you are such a complete doof.

Snapping her gaze up to his, Jessalyn smiled, finding that incredibly sweet. However, she knew she had to choose her words carefully since he was blushing pretty badly. Her fingers squeezed around his in an effort to show him she didn't mind what he'd said. "You don't need to ice skate with me for an excuse to hold my hand... you can hold it whenever you want. Though that might make throwing the bowling ball pretty hard, but I think we could work around that."

He tried to calm the redness in his cheeks, but all it did was dim a bit to a pinkish color, refusing to disappear entirely from his face. He bit his bottom lip and looked down at the ice and then let his eyes trail back up to meet hers after she finished speaking. "Yeah... don't think you'd be bowling a perfect game if you couldn't even get your fingers in the ball." he smiled.

"Well, you can hold this hand." She lifted up her left hand. "And I'll bowl with this one." Jessalyn lifted her right hand and wiggled her fingers with a soft laugh. "I'll make history of being the first girl to bowl a perfect game while holding someone's hand. I'm sure your name would come up in there somewhere." Jessalyn tugged him along, wanting him to feel comfortable with himself again. She was definitely reveling in the things he said, or did. He was really sweet, and sincere, and she hadn't exactly experienced that before.

Madock let her tug him along. Well, sort of. There wasn't much tugging that a girl her size could do with someone of his size. "People will come from miles around to see the hand holding bowlers." he chuckled, feeling a lot better about his lack of brain-mouth communication now. It was odd to be experiencing all he was at that particular moment. He liked Jessalyn. She was sweet and quirky and cute, god she was cute. But at the same time, all that like kind of sucked. What would happen if the kept hitting it off? He was supposed to get married to some dreamweaver chick eventually. Settle down and provide for a family with a girl he didn't even know. He pushed that thought aside though. That was at least a little ways off. Breezy said to enjoy what he could, so he was determined to do that. "So uh, this is actually a lot of fun... despite the falling." he grinned.

"Strangely enough, I think the falling was fun too," Jessalyn admitted with a smile. Because now she knew his body was pretty firm in all the right places. Which was such a silly thing to think at the time, but she didn't care. "Maybe we can skate for awhile longer, until our legs start to hurt, then we can go get something hot to drink and complain about how sore we are." She was happily oblivious to any dreamweaverness, or possible upcoming nuptials with a dreamweaver chick. All she knew was Madock was nice, and cute, and funny and he seemed to like her. She liked the way he smelled and wanted to scent him as hers pretty badly, which was odd since they had only begun talking the day before. She supposed she could wait on that, but just the idea of finding someone to spend time with who wasn't Ransom was pleasant and exciting. "Sound good?"

Like her obliviousness to his dreamweaver thoughts, he was completely lacking anything close to thoughts of scenting or the like. "Sounds good to me." he agreed. And skate they did. And fall? They did that too, at least a couple more times before his legs ached and they headed over to the edge of the rink. "Well, my skating expertise has gone up at least a point or two." he grinned, sitting himself down on the bench they'd sat at earlier. His fingers worked the laces free on the skates and then he pulled them off and glanced over at her as he picked up one of his regular shoes to put back on. "So, hot chocolate next, then?" he smiled.

Jessalyn wasn't terribly achy... she got a lot of exercise most days, especially days she shifted. But she had fallen quite a few times, though she had found each spill pretty funny. Might as well laugh at yourself rather than letting yourself be embarrassed. Besides, every time she fell, he helped her up, so that was definitely a bonus to the bruises she was sure to have. "Hot chocolate sounds great." She tugged her own skates off and got her shoes to slip back on. "My butt is freezing!" Her hands weren't though, since he held them almost the entire time. "You're not so bad skating, you know? I think if you just get used to the skates, you'll be really good. You've got that bit of athletic grace about you."

"Athletic grace?" he smiled, finishing up tying his shoes and looking over at her. "Never heard it described like that really. Kinda cool though." He decided not to make a comment on her freezing back end, mostly becuase everything that ran through his brain could have probably gotten him slapped and he'd like to avoid that if possible. A few minutes later they were in the car and a few minutes after that they were at the little shop she'd talked about with the hot chocolate, which of course he bought. Not that it was all that much of a splurge, but he liked to at least feel like he was doing something nice for her. "Here ya go." he said with a grin as he offered up the cocoa. "That should warm you up."

"Thanks. I definitely think it'll do the trick." Jessalyn was ecstatic when he bought her drink. Not that it cost a lot, but it was a sweet gesture. She led him to one of the tables by the fireplace in the corner, and was happy that the coffee shop was kind of quiet. There would be less to hear, and smell, and she could focus on him. She set her cup down and wiggled out of her jacket before draping it along the back of her chair and sitting down. "My friend Ransom works here a few days during the week. He's on the basketball team, so maybe you know him? Or not, I don't know." She continually assumed all the athletes in school knew one another.

Ransom. The name sounded familiar but at the moment Madock couldn't put a face with it. "Sounds familiar." he told her. "I might have seen him around or something. I'm not really sure. It's definitely not a common name so I know I've heard it around at least." he shrugged. "You guys pretty good friends then?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound territorial about it. He didn't have any reason to be, especially when he wasn't her boyfriend and he vaguely remembered her saying something about Ransom having a girlfriend anyways.

"No, his family has a lot of unique names, but I like them. His parents and my parents are pretty close, so we kind of grew up together. He's my best friend, really," Jessalyn said before sipping from her cup. Ransom always listened to her, never scolded her, and always laughed with her. Plus, they shifted and ran around the woods together all the time. She didn't really have that kind of freedom with anyone else. "He's dating a girl named Charlie, but I might have told you that already, I don't remember. Do you have any close friends?" She knew he was popular, but Jessalyn also knew that didn't mean you had people you were terribly close too.

He shook his head. "Not really." he admitted. "Not here at least. I had friends back in California, but I haven't really had the chance to get real close to anyone or anything." he shrugged. Thinking about that fact kind of sucked. "But I haven't been here all that long so I'm sure I've got plenty of time to make new friends, yeah?" Or maybe not. Depending on what the future Mrs. Madock Barrow had planned for him. If she wanted to move, chances were he would. He didn't like to cause conflicts if he could help it. "It's cool that you do though. Having someone that you've known that long." he smiled. "We move around a lot so I don't really know a lot of people that I've been around my whole life and stuff. Except like my brothers and sisters."

"Sometimes all you need is your brothers and sisters... although I imagine it's nice to have a friend your own age who you won't see when you wake up, and who you see when you go to bed. I'm older than my brother, though he's a freshman this year, and my sister who is still in junior high... so having Ransom around is nice. But I really like making new friends..." It was just harder than it looked when people thought you were kind of odd. Jessalyn sipped her cocoa again, watching him over to the top of the cup. "Did you have a girlfriend back in California?"

"No." he admitted. "Didn't do a lot... don't do a lot of dating." It kind of sucked to admit that to a girl you kinda wanted to date. "We move around a lot and I just didn't... want to get involved and then move away or something, ya know? But now... I'm tired of moving." Among other things. "What about you?" he questioned. If she wanted to talk about relationships, why not? "When was your last boyfriend? If that's not too nosy I mean."

"Oh!" She wondered if that meant he didn't want to date anyone here in Marquette, if they could be moving again. Or maybe they were here to stay for awhile? Jessalyn wasn't entirely sure. It would suck if he had to leave again! Especially since she quite liked him. She set her cup down on the table and tugged a bit at the sleeve of her sweater. "Me? Oh! No... I don't .. I mean, I never really had a real boyfriend." Jessalyn attempted not to grimace at that admission. How pathetic did it make her look never to have had a relationship? "I mean, I like, hang out with guys sometimes? Or... you know, but I don't think I've ever had an official boyfriend or anything. No! Wait, I did. Er, fourth grade! Mark Carmeuse. But that only last like a week, you know? He dumped me on the playground during recess because Marian Holmes let him look up her skirt." Jessalyn sighed and then smiled. "Ah, young love."

He blinked a little at that. "So you didn't let him look up your skirt?" he teased, giving her a little grin. "So you've not had a boyfriend since like... fourth grade?" he asked. "Seriously?" It seemed a little unbelievable to him. She was cute and funny and definitely datable. "I thought you woulda had a boyfriend." he smiled. "Not that I like think you should have one. I mean, I'm glad that you don't. Well... I mean... I don't know. That came out all damn bad..." he sighed.

"Oh, no!" Jessalyn waved her hand dismissively. "I didn't let boys look up my skirt until at least sixth grade," she teased. "I've had boys I've liked. And boys I've kissed and stuff, but none I ever considered a boyfriend." She smiled at him and nudged his foot with hers under the table. "It didn't come out bad at all. That's what I like about you. You say what you're thinking, even if it's not the most coherent thing, but at least you're not hiding your thoughts like so many people do. Most of the boys I've liked usually had girlfriends or something. But I'm glad I don't have a boyfriend now too. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to go out with you today."

He smiled a little when she nudged his foot and talked about being glad she didn't have a boyfriend. "Yeah, definitely glad." he told her. "Would have missed out on all that fun falling stuff. Wouldn't have wanted to miss that. Wait... did you say you let people look up your skirt?" he questioned, blinking a little bit.

"Falling with you was a lot more fun than sitting at home and doing nothing," Jessalyn pointed out. And then she started giggling at his question, and the look on his face. "No. Well, yes, I did say that, but I was teasing! I don't actually let boys look up my skirt. If I did, don't you think I would be much more popular in school with the boys?"

"Well you're popular with me. Looking up skirts or not." he grinned. Not that he wouldn't mind looking up her skirt. Or down her shirt or at her... Pervert. Fuck. He flushed a little but moved the conversation along to keep from drawing attention to himself and his red cheeks. "So... did you have fun today?"

"I had a lot of fun. I'm glad we went out." Jessalyn tilted her head to the side, bits of her curly hair brushing against her cheek as she studied him. "You blush a lot. I'm not embarrassing you, am I?" She doubted that she was, but Ransom turned red around her a lot, generally over things she said or did. But that was Ransom, and he understood her. She didn't want Madock thinking she was weird, and she didn't want to make him uneasy around her.

He shook his head. "No, no. You're not embarrassing me... I think I just blush a lot around girls I like or something..." he barely whispered. He didn't want her thinking for a second that she was doing something wrong. Hell if anything, she was doing something right.

It was her turn to blush, although it wasn't as obvious as Madock's. Telling someone outright that you liked them was generally something Jessalyn did - and it usually got her not so fantastic results. But this was really nice. "Well, I like you too," she told him. "I mean, we've only hung out this once... but I like talking to you. Is it weird to like someone you've only talked to a few times?"

No more weird than it was to marry someone when you probably would only get one chance to talk to them. He smiled and shook his head. "No... I don't think so. Or maybe it is, but that's okay because since we like each other, I think we can safely say that we're both just weird. And if that's the case. I'm okay with that."

"Do you know how long I've waited to find someone as weird as me?" Jessalyn teased, folding her arms on the table and leaning in a bit flirtatiously toward him. "I'm totally okay with the weird too.. I think you're cute, and sweet--" And he smelled so good. "--and you're really fun to talk to, even if we haven't talked too many times before. So that's really all that matters, right?"

God, now she was leaning forward towards him and looking so damn cute and singing his praises in the form of compliments. So what did Madock do? Well, did what any teenage boy would do with a girl that they liked that liked them back. He leaned forward and replied to her compliments with a batch of his own. "Well, I think you're cute too... and sweet. Kinda quirky in this really hot sorta way and..." he bit his lip, and let his eyes find hers. God he wanted to kiss her, but he didn't, not just yet anyway.

Hot! He just called her hot. Sorta. In a sorta way, but that was practically the same thing. Jessalyn smiled at him, clearly pleased with his responses. "Quirky is a much nicer word for weird, I think. I think I like it!" It was just strange to her, in a good way, that one day he's falling over her in the hall, and the next they're on a date, and he thinks she's hot! And cute. It was almost surreal for Jessalyn. And she was eating it up, enjoying it while she could, since there was always that tiny bit of fear that might come to his senses and think she was too weird for him. "Maybe we can hang out again sometime this weekend," she suggested, her eyes locked on his with extreme confidence. "If you're not too busy or anything."

"I think I'd like that." he grinned. "Maybe a movie or something... depending on our ghostly situation." It was still a bit crazy to think that he'd gotten this date teh same time the world had turned completely upside down. "Yeah, definitely do something soon. This weekend... tomorrow maybe if that's not too soon. Don't want you getting tired of me too fast." And that's about the time that he lifted his hand, distracted by a bit of her hair falling into her face. So he reached up and tucked it behind her ear, letting his fingers linger there against her skin.

"I would be happy with doing anything," Jessalyn said. "Tomorrow sounds really nice!" She wasn't sure she would be able to wait until Sunday. "I don't think I could get tired of you, so don't worry about that." She smiled when he touched her, feeling her skin tingle again. Her skin never tingled before, when a boy touched her. She wondered if that meant something, or if she was just really smitten. She leaned into his touch, her smile shifting into a slightly shy one. She wondered if it was too early to kiss him. Probably. Didn't most people date awhile before kissing? She really didn't know how it worked for humans. She should have asked Ransom when she had the chance!

He liked that she leaned into his touch. Liked the way she smiled at him. The way her lips curled upwards shyly when she did so. And that smile had him focusing on her lips and though he'd told himself he'd wait to kiss her, he didn't. He tilted his head a bit, paused and leaned in enough to close the gap between their mouths, pressing a light little kiss against her lips and then pulling away again. "Um... I'm sorry... I probably should have asked before I did that. Do people ask to kiss people? God I should stop talking..." he said, flushing a little.

The kiss was a little bit startling, as she wasn't expecting it - though maybe she should have - but she certainly wasn't complaining. His lips were soft, the kiss gentle, but both with that promise of being so much more. She wanted to pull him back to her and really kiss him - thoroughly. But the tiny taste she did get was wonderful, and made her crave more. She looked at him, her lips tingling from where his has been and then she smiled. "Don't say you're sorry, because I'm not. You don't have to ask to kiss me... I mean, if you want to, you can, but... you can kiss me whenever you want. Uhm, permanent permission," Jessalyn said, reaching over to take his hand. "Will you kiss me again?"

Permanent permission? He grinned a little at that and was far too tempted to say something about 'whenever you want'. He could kiss her in the middle of school, then? But he didn't say anything because she was asking him now if he'd kiss her again. And kissing her again was something he really wanted to do. "If you want me to." he told her, but he didn't wait for her to say anything before leaning in again, the hand that she wasn't holding resting lightly against her cheek as he tilted his head just slightly and pressed his lips to hers again. She could pull away this time when she wanted to. He'd let her make the decision for when the kiss would stop.

She really, really wanted him to. He was close to her, and touching her, and everything felt just right. Jessalyn's eyes closed when his lips found hers again and she was much more involved in this kiss than she had been with the last one. Because she had been expecting it now, and he wasn't pulling away too soon. She lifted her free hand to the nape of his neck, gently holding him in place as her fingers slid through the soft strands of his hair. There was no reason to deepen the kiss just yet, or use tongue. She liked just feeling their lips pressed together in that simple way. Even then it caused a bit of fire to course through her. She didn't know if it was the animal in her, or the teenage girl full of hormones.

He would have smiled against the kiss when she pressed her lips right back up against his, but he was too busy screaming out words of 'fuck this is awesome' in his brain. Her fingers on his neck, sliding against his hair, the soft press of her mouth to his and the way her skin felt beneath his fingertips. Yeah, kissing was awesome. It was a long moment before he finally, reluctantly pulled away for air. And that's when Madock smiled. A crooked little grin as his eyes met hers. "Yeah, I guess I would kiss you again." he told her.

Opening her eyes when he pulled away, Jessalyn pulled her lower lip between her teeth to enjoy his taste lingering there. And then she laughed and poked him playfully. "You guess? That's so flattering, thank you. I guess I would kiss you again too. If the mood struck me." She grinned and leaned back in her chair, though her hand was still with his. It was almost like she could feel his heart pounding in his chest, which was nice because hers was too. Lifting his hand in hers, she brought it to her cheek and pushed against it, unconsciously marking him. Not that there were many wolves in town, or people who would understand it, but she would.

"More than 'I guess'." he told her with a grin as she rubbed her skin against him. His mind was definitely not thinking she was marking him, more concentrating on how soft her cheek was against his palm. "Guess you'll have to forgive my brain for being a little impaired at the moment." he said.

"Impaired brain totally forgiven," Jessalyn said, rubbing her cheek against his once more before she laced their fingers together and returned their hands to the table. She wanted to climb onto his lab and just rub her cheek all over him. But that... would be weird. She didn't want to scare him off so quickly. Inhaling deeply to calm her hormones, Jessalyn smiled, determined not to get all worked up in a coffee shop. "How's your drink?"

While she mentally calmed herself, Madock was busy watching her face, taking in her features. The curve of her cheek, the pout of her lips. He completely missed her question the first time. "What? Oh, yeah." he smiled, using his free hand to take a sip of the slowly cooling liquid. He'd almost forgotten about the drink entirely. Licking his top lip to remove the chocolate residue he smiled. "How's yours?"

"Chocolately," Jessalyn replied, reaching out to pick up her own drink with her free hand. "It's probably my favorite hot drink, since I don't really like coffee. Lots of whipped cream and sprinkles on top are the best." She took a sip and noted that hers too was getting a bit cold. Definitely not as good as really hot hot chocolate, but it was totally worth not paying much attention to it. Her eyes met his eyes and she smiled behind her cup. "I'm definitely feel much more warm now than before though. I can't decide if it was the hot chocolate, or you."

He flushed a little, but not out of embarrassment, more just because his body was so hot it had to put out some form of visible heat or he might have combusted. He bit his lower lip through a grin. "Yeah, well I'm warm now too. And I think it's you because like... this... is getting cold." he chuckled. "Apparently you're more interesting than my cup of hot - well lukewarm actually - chocolate."

She laughed and nodded. "I'm flattered you know, because hot chocolate is really good stuff. You're pretty good for my ego." And he was incredibly sweet, which she wouldn't always expect from one of the jocks at school. Usually they tried to keep up with that rough, bad ass persona, no matter what they were. She was glad that Madock seemed to be different from them. And he had kissed her! She couldn't wait to tell Ransom about it. "Did you maybe want to order another one and talk some more? I feel reluctant to take you home just yet... unless you have a curfew! Then I wouldn't want you to get in trouble."

Curfew. That was an interesting thought. Madock shook his head. "No curfew. I think I can be persuaded to another cup of hot chocolate." he smiled. "I'll go get it, yeah? Be right back." Reluctantly he got up from his seat and released her hand so he could walk up to the counter. He'd gotten a kiss! Hells yeah! Now if he could just keep from blushing everytime she spoke to him, they'd be good.

No curfew! That was a bonus. She wouldn't have to take him home so soon, which was nice. She settled her chin in her hand to watch him go, admiring him from behind. Or rather, his behind. Which was so inappropriate! But... sometimes Jessalyn didn't actually acknowledge the inappropriateness of her thoughts. She was sure she would wake up in the morning and realize this had all been a dream or something. Because this kind of thing never happened to her. Not like this anyway.

Madock returned a few moments later with a hot cup of cocoa for the both of them and sat hers in front of her, giving her a little grin as he sat down. "Now, maybe we should drink those before we start kissing again." he teased. "Otherwise I'll be here all night buying hot chocolate."

"I'll buy a couple rounds," Jessalyn offered jokingly before she pulled her cup in front of her. She sniffed it once before lifting it to take a sip. It was hot and burned her tongue a bit, but that was okay. "Don't worry... I promise to get through this hot chocolate before I kiss you again. It'll be my incentive for finishing it before it gets cold."

He grinned at her and shook his head. "So I'm an incentive now? Wow, that's really awesome. Am I that good a kisser?" Madock asked as he lifted his own cup and blew lightly to cool it just a bit so he could take a sip. Burning off his tongue didn't seem like a good idea, especially when he might very well need that sometime in the near future.

"You do okay for yourself," she teased. Really okay, actually. She had kissed a lot of boys in the past. Well, not a lot, but enough. And Madock was definitely her favorite so far. "I think I'll need to maybe kiss you a few more times, just to make sure and everything. I would hate to wear my 'Madock is a Good Kisser' sandwich board around school without being absolutely sure, you know?"

Again that smile plastered across his face, and this time without the blushing! Finally. "Oh, by all means." he told her. "Kiss as much as you want to as frequently as you want to. I plan on not objecting in just about ever circumstance." Object to kissing her? Yeah right. Why in the hell would he ever deny her a kiss?

"I'll remember you said that," Jessalyn countered, honestly hoping he wouldn't change his mind. At least not in the near future. It was still hard to believe he had asked her on a date. And had kissed her already. She loved it. It was like the best birthday present, even though it wasn't her birthday. Hopefully things would only keep getting better.

"I could write it down for you." he grinned. "Just in case you happen to come close to forgetting. Put it on a post it note and stick it to your forehead." he teased, reaching out to tap the end of her nose with his pointer finger.

She giggled and blushed a bit when he touched her nose. "I have an excellent memory, believe it or not. But I don't mind you writing it down... make sure you sign your name. That way it's a binding contract that you can't get out of." Jessalyn was pretty sure their conversation had spiraled into silliness, but that was perfectly fine with her. It was so much better than awkward silence, or conversations about depressing things. "You know, I never asked you... what position do you play on the football team?"

He smiled. "If I tell you are you going to want an explanation?" he teased. Not everyone knew about football so he assumed she'd need an explanation regardless of whether she admitted it or not. "I'm a running back. I basically... carry the ball and run." he told her. It was the short description without having to go into full detail for the girl. "Do you like football?"

"I can always google anything you tell me if I don't understand it," Jessalyn pointed out with a laugh. "But I think I know the basics. My dad watches football like, religiously in the fall. He always has friends over for the Super Bowl and stuff. It gets loud." She took another quick sip of her hot chocolate before continuing. "I do like it... it's fun to watch. I really like baseball too. It's the only sport I'm actually good at." Having good reflexes helped.

He sipped his own hot chocolate while she talked and he wiped his mouth before speaking again. "Sounds like your dad and me would get along just awesome." he grinned. Football was one of the few things that kept and held Madock's attention fully which couldn't be said for much of anything really. "Baseball though?" he smiled. "I've never been good at that. I can catch a ball easy, but trying to hit one with that bat thing? Yeah, so not good at it."

"I honestly think my dad would fall over from shock if he found out I was dating a football player... er... or just... I mean, hanging out with," she corrected and it was her turn to flush over the slip of tongue. Going on one date didn't mean they were dating. Jessalyn smiled through her mild embarrassment and decided not to linger on it. "Baseball's not so hard... I mean, keeping your eye on the ball is key. I don't play or anything now, but I used to be in a softball league as a kid. I think I like watching things more now than actually playing them. Maybe I'll come watch your next game. Support the team and everything."

"Do you want to be 'dating' a football player?" he questioned, though he went on to focus more on her coming to watch the next game. "You'd come watch me play?" he grinned. "That'd be pretty awesome. I'd be all gross afterwards, but it'd be fun if you came and watched."

"I don't know. I don't generally think about dating that way... if I like a boy, I don't think it matters whether they're a football player or in the chess club." She smiled and tapped her fingernail gently against the side of her cup. "I know there's like... a sort of social chain in school. And certain people don't date certain people..." Football players definitely didn't date Jessalyn Lainey. "But I think I would definitely like to come watch you play. I don't care if you would be gross afterward... I think the rough and tumble, sweatiness of it all is kind of sexy."

"So if you come watch me and I hug you when I'm all disgusting and sweaty and stuff, you're not going to freak out when you smell like me and have to wash like a whole day to get the smell to go away?" he teased.

"Nope, I won't freak out," she promised. "You'll only be sweaty because you were playing a sport! That's totally respectable. It's not like you've been hanging out and not bathing for a week." She laughed a bit at the thought. Some people at school didn't shower regularly. It was hard on her nose.

He scrunched his nose and shook his head. "Yeah, not bathing? Uh, no. Totally not that kinda guy, for sure. Promise." Madock chuckled. That thought was just disgusting. It was one thing to be all stinky from practice or a game, but he always showered immediately after. The guys on the team that just went like that til they got home, he didn't understand. He was shower bound as soon as they got of the field.

"I believe you. Promise." She smiled at him, thinking that she wasn't too worried about any of that. He smelled just fine to her, and she was sure he would regardless of sweat. "So is that what you want to do in college and everything? Play football? Or do you have something else in mind that you want to do? Have you given it any thought?"

College. He wasn't sure if he'd go or not. He'd be married by then surely. "I don't know." he shrugged. "Depends on a lot of things really." he smiled, hoping to find another topic to lead her down before she delved too far into his future and things he couldn't tell her. Letting a girl know on the first date that he would be marrying someone soon was a deal breaker. "What about you?" Girls liked talking about themselves right?

"I have at least another year to think about it," Jessalyn admitted with a small smile. "I'm only a junior, so they'll start shoving college applications and stuff down our throats toward the end of the school year." Hopefully he didn't mind that she was a year below. "I haven't really given much thought into a college yet. A lot of stuff can happen between now and graduation, I think. Do you think you'll want to stay close to your family?"

He shrugged again. "Maybe." Madock told her. "Not really sure yet. My family moves a lot so I don't know if I would or not. Like I can't follow them around forever and stuff." At least that much was true. "You wanna stay close to yours? I mean you've lived her always right? Think you'd ever leave?"

"I think I do... I mean, want to stay. I've lived here my whole life." Plus, she couldn't imagine leaving her family's pack... or even Ransom. It felt wrong somehow, to break away. Even if the more human part of her desired something different... remaining where her family was was imbedded too deeply within her. "I guess it depends on the circumstances. College is expensive, and going to an out of state college, or even one somewhere else might be more than... I mean, unless I get a scholarship. Er, so I don't know. Again, it depends on the circumstances. But like I said, I have awhile to think about it."

He nodded. "Yeah, you got time to think about it." he agreed. "What's the rush anyways? You'll figure it out I'm sure." He lifted his cup to sip the rest of his hot chocolate, then sat the mug back down on the table. "So, what kind of movies do you like?" he asked. "If we're gonna see a movie tomorrow sometime, I need to know what kind to pick."

"Yeah, I think I'll figure it out when the time comes. And you know, if you stay close by, I would complain about that either," she pointed out with a tiny grin. It was the one thing that sucked about having friends who were so close to leaving school. So many wanted to leave Marquette too. At least she knew Ransom would be staying. "Movies? I don't really like anything too violent. I like comedies a lot. Anything that will make me laugh. And girly movies, but I definitely wouldn't subject you to those!"

"How bout you pick the first movie and I'll pick the next one, yeah?" he suggested. That'd make it easier. He'd have some time to figure out what kinds of movies were safe bets and this time he'd be guaranteed that she'd get to watch something she liked. "If my house wasn't so crazy I'd say we could just rent a bunch of stuff and make a day of it... buuut... it's insane there. All. The. Time."

"That's okay, I don't mind going to the theater," she told him. She knew what it was like to have a busy household, and she didn't even have as many family members as he did. "And I'll pick the movie, but you can't complain about it! If I pick the movie, then you have to pick where we eat after the movie is over. Sound fair?"

"Sounds fair." he nodded. "So, what time do you want me to come get you? I'm gonna try and weasel the van outta my sister." he chuckled. "Maybe I'll promise to take her somewhere or something. Or maybe she'll have plans but I can text you and let you know. All else fails, I'll call a cab." he grinned.

"Aw, don't call a cab! Cabs cost money. If you can't get the van, then call me and I'll come get you. If you want, you can even drive my car, that way it sort of feels like you're taking me around," she teased. "I'll check the movie times tonight and text you... but maybe we can go later in the afternoon? Say like, three or four?"

He grinned. "I'll see what I can do about the van. If not you can drive me around. I don't mind. I'm no less of a man just cuz my girl drives me ar- I mean... just because you drive me around and you're a girl."

Jessalyn smiled at the slip. She much preferred the 'my girl' bit since she certainly wouldn't mind being his girl. But she could just hear Ransom in her head thinking maybe it was too soon for that. Maybe? Was it? Maybe another date or something and she would know. Ransom and Charlie seemed to have hit it off quickly. But then again, they were friends before anything else. "Just let me know... I really don't mind driving. It's not as if we would be driving very far anyway." Since everything was really within walking distance for those not terribly lazy.

"True." he smiled. "Well, I'll figure everything out before tomorrow afternoon. I'll probably call you in the morning and let you know." Was it wrong to be this excited about going to a movie?

"That sounds good to me!" She was excited too, and hoped she didn't drive her mom crazy tomorrow with her impatient anticipation for the movie. She was still on the first date and she was already ready for the second. Wasn't that weird? "I'll buy the popcorn," she offered, smiling before lifting her cup to her lips.

When she lifted that cup to her mouth, his attention caught on her face, her lips when she pulled the cup away again and he was half praying that she was finished with the beverage so he could kiss her again. "Um.. yeah... okay." he told her. "You don't have to. I could buy it."

"No, I don't mind." She set her cup back down on the table and eyed him with a curious smile. "Everything okay?" He seemed distracted sort of, and she wondered if maybe she spilled hot cocoa on her or something. Which had her looking down at her sweater for any chocolate stains. She figured she would have noticed something like that. Maybe she had something on her face!

"Yeah. Sorry... I was staring wasn't I? God, that was rude, I'm sorry." he said, but he reached over to catch her cheek with his fingertips, moving forward over the table enough to press his lips to hers. "Couldn't wait..." he whispered against her mouth as he pulled away and sat himself back down again.

"Not rude at all..." At least she didn't have anything on her to be embarrassed about. But then he was kissing her again and all of that was totally forgotten. Jessalyn leaned over a bit when he pulled away, very nearly willing to crawl over the table top to get to him and kiss him again. Stupid table. "Maybe we should sit beside each other at tables from now on," she suggested with a smile, her lips still tingling. "That way I won't break anything from wanting to climb on top of it to get to you."

He bit his bottom lip through a grin as his eyes met hers. "Or, maybe we should just skip the table and go make out in the car." he teased. "Course I'm not opposed to table climbing if you wanna get to me that bad."

Jessalyn's eyes sparkled mischievously and she leaned forward again, her smile sly. "Which one would you prefer?" Because if he didn't think she'd climb over the table, he was so wrong. It helped that the lady behind the counter was currently reading a magazine, and the only other person in the shop was on their laptop and seemingly oblivious.

"You shouldn't tempt me like that." he whispered, eyes flicking to the woman behind the counter. "Come on, let's get outta here before you jump the table and climb into my lap." he grinned, getting up from his seat and reaching out to take her hand and lead her to the car. "And by the way, lap sitting? Totally welcome. Just FYI."

Jessalyn grinned, pleased with herself that she had managed to tempt him at all. She took his hand and stood, grabbing her cup to throw away on their way out. "I'll remember that for the future," she teased, lacing their fingers together. "I think I'll like learning all your quirks... likes and dislikes."

"Yeah?" he questioned as they reached the car and he directed her to the passenger seat, lightly pushing her up against the door and leaning down to kiss her like he'd been wanting to since the first time his lips had touched hers. No one watching, no set time limit, no rush to pull from the kiss.

Lifting her hands up to his shoulders, Jessalyn found she enjoyed this a lot more. There was no table to maneuver around, or coffee girls watching them from across the room. She could just kiss him and enjoy it, especially now that she knew he wanted to kiss her too. Her arms slid around around his neck, enjoying his warmth and the feel of him. And he tasted just as nice as he smelled. That didn't always happen! It was almost too good to be true how lovely he was. She was definitely smitten.

For a minute the kiss wasn't as good as it could have been. Not because of her or the way she kissed, but because he was too distracted trying to figure out what to do with his hands to kiss her as well as he wanted to. Finally he settled them on her hips and tilted his head a little bit, lightly sucking on her lower lip. Kissing Jessalyn? Almost as good as football, if not better and in Madock Barrow's life? That was really saying something.

Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck, and she was thinking very much along the same lines as Madock. Because kissing him made her feel tens times better than anything else she could have been doing at the moment. Sewing, knitting... shifting and running along the lakeshore. Her favorite things... but none of them made her feel like this. Tingly and hot! Her tongue came out tentatively to lick at his lips, gently demanding entry into his mouth. She wanted to really taste him and commit everything about him to her memory.

Well that? Fuck yes! She didn't have to demand long before he opened his mouth and tilted his head just a little bit more so his tongue could press against hers. Deciding upon whether to retreat back into his mouth and hope she'd follow or push forward into hers. She'd been begging entrance first, so he allowed her the upper hand this time. At least for the moment, and let her slip her tongue into his mouth. Of course that gave him all the more ability to lightly suck on it, right? She tasted... like her he supposed with a mixture of hot chocolate which was crazy good and surprisingly hot for some reason.

Jessalyn was perfectly happy with having the upper hand. Maybe there was more alpha inside her than she originally thought. He tasted faintly of hot chocolate, which made everything that much more pleasant, since hot chocolate was one of her favorite things. Of course, their tongues stroking together mimicked other things, and it got her toes curling a bit in her shoes as her body responded to it, and him. But she could feel the change in his heartbeat, and it seemed to mirror hers, which told her he was enjoying it just as much as she was. Was it wrong to kiss this much on a first date? She supposed if she had kissed boys when they hadn't been on a date, then this was perfectly acceptable.

His heart was definitely speeding up in it's beats against his chest. Her toes might have been curling but it was other parts of his body that were responding to her and god he hoped she didn't notice. At least he wasn't pressing up against her. That would be embarrassing. Getting hard from a kiss? Seriously?! He wanted to curse at his body, but that would involve pausing that kiss and boner or not, he totally wasn't going to do that if he could help it.

Jessalyn didn't need to feel his body to know how it was responding. She could tell by his heart beat, the way his body flushed under her fingertips. It was empowering and exciting at the same time. She didn't rush the kiss, but took her time to explore every dark recess of his mouth. How was it that no other girl was doing this to him like, every day? Were they all stupid? She knew he moved a lot, but it baffled her that he was still single. But she didn't want to push him into the back seat of his car and do things just yet... okay, so she really did, but he felt different than other boys. She wanted him to like her tomorrow, so she would have to refrain from letting the heat overwhelm and take over her senses and decisions.

So keeping that bit of space between them didn't last for long. Mostly because he was too distracted by the kiss to keep his body from pressing against hers. So he did, pushing against her but then immediately realizing that was probably a mistake. She'd think he was a perv or something or pushing her to fast but god that friction between their bodies was fucking awesome! Still he pulled back just a bit hoping that she just wouldn't notice.

Jessalyn tugged his lip between her teeth, nibbling gently before she deepened their kiss again. She definitely felt it... and him. It sent shivers through her spine and heat seemed to pool right between her legs. Holy crap, it just... he so knew how to kiss. Jessalyn slipped her arms from around his neck to fall to his hips. She curled her fingers around the belt loops of his jeans to tug him gently back to her again. She didn't care, and she definitely didn't think he was a perv. She liked the feeling just as much as he did. Hopefully he wouldn't think she was skanky, or moving too fast, because of it. It was just in her nature to go for something that felt good to her.

His tongue stopped moving for a half second when she hooked her fingers through those loops and pulled him back against her. Long enough for a little groan to slip out into her mouth. Fuck that was nice. She didn't mind it, she could obviously feel it. There was no way she couldn't have and she pulled him back. Thinking she was skanky though? Fuck no. He was too busy thinking about how sexy that was and how awesome just the pressing against her felt. His brain finally relayed the message to his tongue that there was still kissing in progress and he slid his fingers up her body, one finding it's way to the small of her back, the other all the way to her cheek, holding her lips there against his.

Who needed ice skating and hot chocolate when they could have just been doing this the whole time? Then again, that was probably just her hormones talking, since she did enjoy spending time with him sans lip locking. But this was so incredibly nice and hard to pull away from, which is why she didn't. She could handle the chilly weather, and with her blood, and his body warmth, she was just fine, thank you very much. Jessalyn had to pull away from him to suck in some oxygen to her lungs, but she made it as brief as possible. She didn't want to stop kissing until they absolutely had to. Until he was totally crazy for her and the only thing stopping him from taking her was the fact that they were outside! Again... her hormones had totally taken over.

During that brief little pause he was freaking out inside and actually managed an apology. Or part of one, thinking that he'd done something wrong. "I'm sor-" he whispered, but her lips were against his again and he wasn't about to pull away to apologize when she'd obviously not been even needing one. She was still kissing him, still wanting to kiss him and the cold? Cold was the last thing on his mind. She was warm and soft beneath his fingers. His hormones were raging and most of him wanted to open the car door and just take her right that second, but the smart part of him realized that he'd have no clue what he was doing. Finally the urge to breathe had his lungs burning and he broke the kiss to trail his lips down her cheek to her neck, lightly sucking and biting the flesh there and upwards to her ear. "Are you... cold?" he managed to get out between little panting breaths.

"Hmm?" What was he asking? Cold? How on earth could she possibly be cold when he was doing that? That felt even more tingly than the kisses on her lips. "No... not really. You're really warm so... it's been keeping me warm." She smiled breathlessly and turned to nuzzle her nose against his neck. "Are you cold? We can get in the car, it's okay..." She could see her breath so she imagined it was chilly outside.

He bit his bottom lip and shook his head. "No, not cold... but... we can get in the car if you wanna." he told her. "But just kissing, okay?" he said softly, not pulling away from her neck. Afraid of the look on her face after saying that. Wondering if she'd confused. So he had to tell her now before she thought he didn't want her, because that just wasn't it. "I've just... I don't want you to think you have to do anything..." But that wasn't the entire truth. Yes, he didn't want to force her, but he also didn't want to get in deeper than he should and have no clue how to live up to what he should already know. "And I've... never really... gone farther than this..." he admitted, biting his bottom lip again. It was then that he pulled his lips from her neck and looked at her, wondering what she'd have to say to that.

She was confused, but only for a few seconds. She wasn't sure what else they would do in her car other than kiss. And then she realized he meant that or... maybe something close to it? Which made her wonder if he thought she would actually do that with him so soon and in her car outside. When Madock pulled back to look at her, she smiled, though she was still trying to work through it all. "I don't... I mean, I didn't really have any intention of, er, doing anything like that in my car." Sure, she had done more than kissing but she had never done that either. "I like kissing you. We don't have to do anything more than that. Especially not like... the first time we go out."

He flushed a bit and apologized immediately. "I didn't mean that I thought you wanted... wanted to... I'm sorry..." he told her. "I just wanted you to know that I don't... expect it from you or anything. I don't want you think that's all I want because it's totally not... God I'm such an idiot. And I like kissing you too..." he told her. "A lot, obviously. I just... I don't know... I'm sorry..." he told her. "I'll totally understand if you wanna like slap me or something, I totally deserve it.." Total freaking idiot.

"What? No! No, I don't want to slap you." Jessalyn stared at him before breaking into a few soft giggles. "That's silly. I don't expect anything either." Sadly, if he had expected something, or wanted something else, she probably would have done it to make him happy. Jessalyn leaned up to press her lips against his again before she pulled out her keys and unlocked her car doors. Pulling back, she smiled and reached behind her to tug at the door handle. "No slapping. I'd rather kiss you."

He smiled at her, glad she wasn't going to slap him. "Mmm... I'd rather kiss you too." he agreed, letting her slip into the car. He shut the door behind her and climbed in the driver's side, leaning over a bit to brush his hand down her cheek and pulled her towards him a bit. "Have to embarrass myself just a little bit when I'm around you I guess." he grinned, leaning in and pressing his lips to hers.

"That's okay." She kissed him back and smiled against his lips. "It's kind of cute when you get all flustered like that and your cheeks get really pink. You don't try to pull off an act, or be someone you're not... I like that you're real, if that makes sense." Jessalyn kissed him again, warmer now that they were in the car. She wondered if she could just borrow his lips and take them home with her... because she really thought she could kiss him all night.

He very well could have kissed her all night and for a long time he did, finally trailing his lips down to her neck and kissing there. He half wondered if he looked like he'd been making out all night. He didn't much care though, even if he had, because damn it kissing her was awesome. Even with the embarrassment, things had turned out pretty decent as far as first dates go. "I should probably let you get home before your parents hate me." he whispered against her ear.

She giggled and pulled back just enough to open her eyes and look at him. "You play football... so unless you're a collosal jerk, which you're not, dad wouldn't hate you. But mom might start calling soon with all the ghost stuff... so maybe you're right." Jessalyn sighed, not really wanting to stop, but figuring she better. She lifted a hand to run through his hair before she kissed his cheek and settled back in her chair. "Besides, I'm sure the longer you're out, the more teasing you'll get when you get home which I'm sure you want to try and avoid."

He smiled. "Yeah, probably. So, my house first then yours and you'll call me and let me know you made it home safe?" he questioned, holding out a hand for the keys since she was in the passenger seat at the moment, might as well drive at least to his own house so she could drop him off.

She handed him her keys, perfectly comfortable with him driving her car. "I'll definitely call you when I get home... promise." Jessalyn reached for her seatbelt to buckle into place. "I had a lot of fun tonight. Definitely went beyond my expectations and everything."

"I had fun too." he grinned, starting the car up and leaning over for just one more kiss. Well at least til the goodnight kiss. And damn it, he planned on one of those whether it got him more teasing for coming in late or not. He smiled again when he pulled his lips away from hers. "Exceeding expectations for me too." he told her, tucking her hair behind her ear and reluctantly pulling away and heading off in the direction of his house.

Definitely beyond expectations. Now if only it were tomorrow.