Confessions and Consequences

who: caleb and jamie
where: jamie's
when: later night

Jamie pushed open the front door of her house as quietly as possible, peering in. Everything was dark, and everything was silent, save the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen. She loosed a little sigh and walked in, toeing off her sandals. "Kay, he's gone to bed," she murmured, gesturing Caleb in. "Just be quiet 'til we get to my room. It's on the other end of the house from his, so he won't hear us unless we start screaming at each other."

Well, that helps. We actually do that. Caleb thought with a sigh, but said nothing and nodded, walking in and toeing his shoes off so he could be quieter as he followed her. Cuz seriously, last thing he wanted to do was wake the guy up, and deal with that. He had no idea what they'd be dealing with and that would only complicate matters. Therefore...quiet as a fucking mouse.

She headed quietly through the house back to her room, flipping on the light switch and flopping onto her bed with a sigh. Well, she'd accomplished her goal. He was in her room again, he was going to talk. He hadn't ran away during the middle of the party. Caleb was still here, with her, and hopefully she wouldn't have to torture him to get him to talk.

Caleb was leaned back against the door, and still, though internally he was fidgeting. He still had no idea what he was going to tell her. Like, at all. The hours of movies hadn't brought him any closer to a conclusion. He looked up from the floor over at her, and really just took her in. She'd been all clingy and worried. It was something he was definitely still getting used to, didn't know if he'd ever fully be. But...he was willing to try. "I don't really know where to start." he said quietly, because that was the truth.

Jamie waited a moment before sitting up. "The furniture isn't going to bite. You can start by sitting down," she offered gently, her voice just as quiet. It was his choice where to sit. For once today, she wasn't going to grab him by the arm and force him to sit down.

He kind of wanted to sit on the bed, but knew himself well enough to know that he'd probably only be there for a few minutes then he'd get up and start pacing. So, he opted for the computer chair. He glanced at it, knocked the mouse to see if it was sleeping so he could put some music on. Anything for some slight bit of distraction where it wouldn't only be silence or him speaking and Jamie's soft breathing.

The screen flickered to life and the hard drive kicked on. The monitor displayed Jamie's playlist, exactly as she'd left it earlier. Jamie watched him quietly from the bed, tucking her legs beneath her to watch him. She would have preferred for Caleb to sit on the bed, but it was probably better this way. He was out of reach, so she couldn't distract herself, or him, by reaching out to randomly touch him while he talked.

He looked over the music, and chose a song to play. Not one he'd heard before, just something on her computer. He figured anything she had would by definition be softer than the vast majority of the stuff he did. "I said before that I wasn't used to anyone worrying about me. I'm not. And I don't mean like, outside people, or anything, I'm not used to it period. My parents...well...okay. I have two older brothers. My oldest brother Mathias is fourteen years older than me. My brother Dorian is seven years older. By the time they got around to me, they really just weren't interested in another kid. I was an accident, and they really didn't make that any kind of secret. They pretty much glorified my brothers. They might as well have walked on water and parted the goddamn sea as far as they were concerned. But me?" he shook his head, and finally chanced a glance over at her. "They didn't give a shit about me or anything about me."

She listened to him, watching his face and body posture carefully for visual clues as well as listening to the tone of his voice. Jamie didn't speak for a few moments, but kept her posture relaxed. Her eyes searched his when he finally glanced at her. What he said reminded her of her own mother, but she didn't say that out loud.

"Which brother did you go out with last night?" she questioned lightly. It was a harmless question (or at least she figured it would be) and hopefully it would relax Caleb some.

"Mathias." Caleb answered, absently picking up some of the rocks she had on her desk and turning them over and around in his fingers. It gave him something to look at that wasn't her. Because he didn't want to see her expression right now. "He left when I was a kid, like, four or something, and we never got to know each other. So we're kind of trying it now. I think we actually made some headway, which is surprising. But...yeah. I dunno. Here's...here's something about me that plays into almost everything. when I was sixteen, I got really sick of being invisible. Like, the longer I went on in the house the more I realized I was. Little things. Like even when my patterns changed, nothing was said to me. No one noticed. So I took off. I was gone for a week. And when I finally got back?" He shrugged one shoulder. "They either didn't notice that, or they didn't care. The more I think about it, it doesn't matter which it was. But I think they just don't care. Fast forward a few months, and they up and dropped me on Dorian. I don't even know where they are right now."

Jamie frowned, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You know that's not on you, right? That's them and their shitty parenting, Caleb. It's got nothing to do with you, except you were the one to suffer for it."

"Doesn't feel like it." Caleb said, very very quietly. "If your own parents couldn't care less about you, maybe there's a reason for that. Maybe there's just nothing there worthwhile."

She bit her lip. "Caleb, my mom was the same way as your parents," Jamie said very carefully. "And I've never even met my father. I think you're worthwhile. What do you think about me?"

"You're the first person I'm telling any of this shit to that isn't blood related." Caleb said, looking up at her and actually managing eye contact. "You're more than worthwhile."

Jamie smiled faintly at that, just for a moment, and kept eye contact as long as he did. Her hands twitched in her lap with the desire to reach out and touch him, but she was being good. She went through what he'd said in her mind again, sifting through. Shitty parents (which she'd sort of guessed would be part of the problem), two older brothers who apparently didn't completely suck...

And a week on his own in a big city. "What happened that week in New Orleans, Caleb?" she asked very softly.

He flinched just a little, eyes flickering away from hers. He looked back down to the rock, then set it down, looking through the playlist again for something to do. His eyes lit on Nutshell, so he played that. Then he got up and paced around. "A lot, I guess. I don't really like talking about it much. Big city, a lot of shit. A lot of not so nice things." Which really he knew she'd know. It wasn't like she'd have to have been there to picture what happens to teenage runaways in a city like that.

She followed him around the room with her eyes, expression somber. There were a lot of ideas running through her head; she'd lived in some shitty neighborhoods in her early years, and even if she'd been practically a baby, some of the things she'd witnessed would never leave. So she could (and was) imagining the worst, and the only thing that soothed that worry and panic was the fact that he was here, and alive, and pacing in her bedroom. "You don't have to tell me" and a yet was heavily implied there "if it'll make you uncomfortable," Jamie said softly. "I want you to talk to me, I want you to know you can talk to me about things like this... but I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you."

Caleb sighed and dragged his fingers through his hair before he looked over at her again. "It's not...you're right. What you said earlier. About being even in things, and I know that, it's just really hard for me. You had a best friend. Might have been a shitty one, but you had one. I haven't, really. Anything that's happened to me I haven't had anyone to tell. Hell, no one cared enough to even know anything had happened. So I'm just trying to get my head around the fact that you're even asking." He stopped and leaned against the wall by her window, eyes on her. "Honestly I kind of thought that you didn't want to know me like I want to know you. Up until today you haven't pushed on anything."

Her eyes widened, and then she winced, an apologetic look taking over her features. "I'm sorry, Caleb. I... It's another one of my things. When I get close to people... like I have with you... Well, I'm terrified of losing them. At all. Abandonment issues, I guess. And you reacted so badly that first day when I tried to talk about you, I haven't wanted to push you on anything... I thought if I gave you time, you know, you'd eventually trust me enough to talk on your own. But today, I just... I had to. Had to, especially when you wouldn't let me see..." Her voice trailed off, and her now troubled eyes drifted from his face to his neck, and then to his chest.

He saw her gaze, and he drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He didn't know what to do there. He really, really didn't. If she did see the extent of his injuries, she'd be seeing all the scars too. He didn't know what he'd say there. What she might believe, and of course, on top of that, he didn't want her to be...well. Repulsed. Or afraid, or pitying. All were incredibly large possibilities, and he didn't know if he could handle it. She was terrified of him leaving? He was afraid of that. "Sorry, I don't trust very easy. Doesn't come naturally, y'know? But I'm getting there." he told her. He wondered if she was going to bring up seeing things again. He could only put it off so long.

"Come here," Jamie murmured, patting her bed. "You don't have to talk anymore tonight, Caleb. And I'm... I'm not going to ask to see. Not tonight. I'm not going to force you to show me. I just wanted..." she took a deep, shaky breath. "I just wanted to know something. Just one thing, and you've given me that now. That's all I wanted. See? The world isn't ending. I'm still here, and we're not screaming at each other... And you know I want to know about you now, too. So everything's fine. Better, even. Right?" she questioned, gaze moving upwards, back to his eyes.

He didn't know if he'd ever in his life seen anything so inviting. Just her, sitting there, wanting him to go sit with her on the bed. It was the way she spoke, and everything about the entire scene, really. He pushed off of the wall, and walked over. Caleb looked down at her, for a long moment, then sat down, sitting so he was facing her. He looked down, one leg under him and his hands in his lap. He picked at the loose strings around the hole where his thumbs were through his shirt, and he could see the little slice of red from where the claw marks started on his left hand.

"'msorry in advance for this," she apologized, reaching out to grasp his right hand in both of hers. "But I'm having a girly, touchy moment. Just bear with me for a minute, okay?" Jamie held his hand, lowering her eyes to it and sighing quietly to herself as she ran her thumb along his knuckles.

He twitched the faintest bit, but didn't pull his hand back. He let her do what she wanted, eyes down on that instead of up on her. He could smell her perfume again, since they were actually sitting pretty close. Close enough, anyways. Caleb had put himself right where she'd patted the bed, after all, so yeah. Close. He didn't exactly know what she was going to be doing, but he wasn't going to stop her. Idly, he wondered if she had noticed during the movies or would now the light outline of the bandage up his arm. By far, the worst of the damage he'd taken.

Her eyes slid from his hand to his arm, right where the bandages were, and they rested there for a long moment. "You're really okay?" Jamie questioned, her voice very quiet. Her thumb continued to trace lightly against his knuckles, avoiding the worst of the still-healing scrapes.

He nodded. "Yeah." he answered her. "Pain doesn't bother me." he added, voice matching hers. Then, he twisted his left hand a little, unhooking his thumb from his shirt, and he let it fall back just enough so she could see the start of the claw wounds, biting into the heel of his hand, and arching down over his wrist and disappearing as his shirt covered the rest. "I kind of found out when I was on my own. That I can take almost anything and it doesn't matter."

Jamie's breath hitched, and her face fell. She looked from his left hand up to his face, usually warm brown eyes filled with sadness. "It does matter now, Caleb. It matters to me."

He looked back at her, holding her eyes. "I still feel it, it dosn't bother me, though." he said. "You could rip it right back open and it wouldn't matter. So...can you at least stop worrying about that?" he asked, voice still soft. "I'm not hurting. Not really." Not like real people do.

She bit down on her lip, uncaring of the fact it had taken a lot of abuse in the past twenty four hours. "Why is it that you're the one hurt and you're the one trying to make me feel better? This is completely backwards." Jamie gave his captive hand a gentle squeeze before finally releasing it, then dropped her gaze back to the mattress.

"Hey," Caleb said, noticing her biting her lip again. "Stop that, you'll make it bleed again." he said, reaching up to just barely brush his fingertips over her cheek before he pulled back again. "And you're worried, but I'm okay. This...this happens to me. It's part of what makes me want to keep you clear of it...me. Because this kind of thing is kind of normal for me. I don't want you to be worried all the time about it, when it's a frequent occurrence."

"Well, the process has already started," Jamie sighed, a faint smile tugging at her lips. She was thankful she hadn't blushed or done something girly like lean in to his touch. Even though the thought had been tempting, he'd moved back too fast for such an embarrassing action to occur. "And it's pretty irreversible. I will now worry about you for all eternity, so we might as well be friends while I'm worrying. It makes it easier for me to fuss over you if we're on speaking terms." She ran her tongue over her swollen lip thoughtfully, a light frown forming afterwards. "You're not going to be able to get rid of me easily, Caleb. Please don't try it."

His eyes were a little distracted, down on her lip. The little cut there, and the fact that he knew what they tasted like. Or...sort of. He knew when he'd tasted her blood that he'd caught strawberry too. Must have been her lipgloss or something. And he was thinking about this now why? Yeah, that was really really great. He made his eyes tick down. "Does it make you feel any better to know that I don't really want to?" he asked.

She smiled, a knot of worry dissolving from his words. The relief welled up visibly in her eyes, dispelling some of the sadness that had been in them all day. "Yes," Jamie admitted. "Much better."

That brought a smile to his lips. A cute, shy sort of expression. He looked up, but not fully, kind of looking at her without leaving the safety of having his head hung. "Good." he said. He paused, glanced away, then looked back at her. "There's other things," he said."That you don't know. That might...seriously effect--" What? 'Us'? How the fuck did he word that? He wound up not finishing the thought, waiting to see what she'd say first.

Jamie looked up curiously. When he didn't finish, she giggled quietly. "Us? Our relationship? Er... friendship?" Oh, God, had she really just said the 'r' word? Boys didn't like that, did they? Now he really was going to bail out the window. She bit her lip uncertainly, cursing inwardly. Maybe she could play it off... "Caleb, babe, I think you're seriously underestimating me," she warned.

He looked up when she said the 'r' word. That along with 'us' was attention grabbing, damnit. Out the window didn't really occur to him, however. Mmmmno. "It's pretty serious stuff." he protested, really not going to at all start choosing a label for them. "And stop." He reached up to put his hand to her face again, just lightly touching her jaw, as he put his thumb just beneath her lip and pushed down the slightest bit to part them. "Biting your lip." Fuck did he want to kiss her then. Possibly more than he'd wanted anything ever. However that would have been so amazingly unfair...Really. They were talking. And she still didn't date people, and sure she said she'd break the rule for a great guy, but he didn't think he fell under that description.

She raised an eyebrow at him in challenge, an 'Oh?' look clearly visible in her eyes. And then she lightly bit his thumb, just barely scraping her teeth against it. Teach him to put his fingers near her mouth when she was nibbling on something.

Caleb really couldn't believe she'd just done that. Really couldn't. At all. It made him want to kiss her all the more, or something. Shit. He even thought his heartbeat had picked up, just at something that small. So really it took him a minute to remember to take his hand back. Which he did, and he immediately started fidgeting with the scratches on his wrist. He had a habit of that, poking at injuries, and the ones on his knuckles were nearly healed. He totally wasn't thinking about it, and he had to stop staring at the cut on her lip. Yes he did. Because he wasn't allowed to kiss her, there was all that other stuff she didn't know, and god, what was wrong with him exactly? No seriously, what directly the fuck was wrong with him? He should really work that out sometime soon. He was so wrapped up in everything he completely forgot to speak.

Jamie allowed him to fidget for only a few seconds before she reached out and grabbed his right hand again. "Stop that," she scolded lightly. "It's not allowed. Now tell me this serious stuff. You aren't allowed to just imply relationship" oh no, not that word again! "altering stuff and then not elaborate, Caleb."

Caleb looked down at their hands, then looked up at her. He smirked at her, he couldn't help it, it was just there. "So you're allowed to bite your lip that you've already made bleed tonight, but I'm not allowed to do that?" he asked. "Explain to me the fairness there." He realized he might be stalling a little, but he had to ask. Couldn't possibly let that go.

She blinked at him, startled. She hadn't seen the smirk at all today, not really (or perhaps she'd just been distracted?) but now that it was there, it was more than a little disconcerting. "Er..." Jamie bit her lip instinctively, then cringed at the action. "It's just habit, I can't help it!"

"Well, so's this." Caleb said firmly, having to laugh a little at her. "I'll try to stop if you do." he said. "But if you keep doing it, then I get to too." he reasoned. That sounded fair to him!

Sigh. She ran her tongue against the cut on her lip, displeased. "Fine... I suppose that's fair," Jamie admitted grudgingly, reluctantly releasing his hand. "Now, no more stalling. Spill."

But he'd liked stalling. And he almost wanted to point out that the cut on her lip was his fault, she'd gotten it by worrying over him. He didn't, however. He sighed. He still didn't know how much he was going to tell her, though. Caleb debated, still not sure, when he slid his sleeve up more on his arm, showing her the rest of the slash across his wrist and arm. And of course along with it the scars that decorated the not currently wounded flesh.

Her eyes grew wide, and then darkened considerably. Jamie reached out and ran her fingers slowly across the older scars, her touch light, and she frowned. "Two questions, and I don't want you to get offended by them, because I don't know how you got these. The first is, did you do these or did someone else?" she asked, her voice suddenly quiet.

He twitched faintly, not sure what to do there. Some part of him'd known that she was going to do that. Touch him. But that didn't mean he had been fully prepared for it. "Depends on your definition of 'self inflicted'." Caleb said quietly. "Either way, not all of them were any fault of mine."

"Okay, so you did do some of these, then?" Jamie asked quietly, frowning and generally looking unhappy. Displeased. Very displeased. "Why, Caleb?"

See, this was why he hadn't wanted to tell her this stuff. But she was going to find out anyways, if they kept going as is, and they seemed to be doing that. He hated the look on her face. It made him shrink back a little more. "It's not as easy as why, or anything that...simple, Jamie." he answered. He rubbed his hand over the wounds on his arm. "This wasn't self inflicted." he said. Then he reached up to tug his shirt down a little bit to show her a little more of the one on his neck, far enough down that she could see it arch over his collarbone, the four slashes there. "This one...sort of." His voice was quiet. Yeah, this was where she told him to get the fuck out of her house.

Her brows furrowed in confusion, eyes ticking back and forth from his arm to his collar bone. "That doesn't explain why," Jamie frowned at him. She could tell he had issues, obviously parental in nature, and those were generally nasty and caused other issues, but Caleb didn't seem like... well, a cutter. "Or even how," she added slowly, still not liking this one little bit. "And who did this one, if it wasn't you?" she asked, moving the fingers resting on the old scars on his arm just a bit to draw his attention to the wound there.

It worked, he looked down at her fingers there, and drew back a little more. He didn't really want her...touching them. He remembered what had happened when Ten had, and...yeah. "It's not so easy to explain. In fact, fair warning, but you're probably not going to believe me." he added. "See this is the part where I talk to you, you tell me I'm fucking insane, and never speak to me again." he said with a sigh. "It has to do with magic. Specifically blood magic, which...yeah. Let's just stop there so you can do that telling me I'm insane part."

The growing irritation completely vanished from her face to be replaced with surprise, and bafflement. "Magic?" Jamie asked carefully. "Magic," she repeated, making sure she'd heard him correctly, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Blood magic?"

Jamie scrubbed at her forehead with her fingertips, still obviously confused. "Okay, you're going to have to explain to me how that works, or show me, or something, okay? Are we talking the Neopagan/Wicca thing here, or what?"

Caleb got up again to sort of put himself near the window. After a moment's hesitation, he sat down on the sil, and looked down, fidgeting with the cuff of his sleeve again. Yeah, show her. That'll help. Of course it might also be the only way to prove anything. "It's magic, it just requires a sacrifice. Blood works. Has to have that to work at all. It just doesn't have to be someone else's. I use mine." he explained, not looking at her. "...and no. Not wicca. Wiccans would probably hate me." he added. Because they so would.

"That's because most of them are tree hugging hippy bastards who don't understand the way the real world works," Jamie frowned. "Okay, so it's not Wicca, so I'm guessing it's not religious at all, especially after our conversation in the grocery store..." She scooted forward to be closer to him, just in case he made to bail out the window (which was not allowed). "So you're talking an actual spell here? And I'd say anything involving a blood sacrifice has got to be used to do harm, just speaking from common sense..." Her voice trailed off as she frowned. There were a lot of questions running through her head; too many to vocalize at once. "Why do you need this? Who do you... who have you," she corrected herself, remembering the scars on his arm, "used this on, Caleb?"

"Well, the tree hugging hippy bastards are probably right about hating it." Caleb said, because he really did think that. "Because you're right, it's harmful. It's not anything you can use for anything good. I know there's magic out there that heals, or protects, that kind of thing, but this?" he shook his head. "Definitely not it." He was looking anywhere but at her, the best he could manage was chancing heartbeat long glances in her direction. "I needed it because New Orleans wasn't exactly the nicest, safest place in the world. Some places..." he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Just attract trouble. Like me. Do you...I could show you something, if you want." he added. Of course the flip side to showing her and having her believe him was showing her and making her completely fucking afraid of him. But then again, maybe she should be.

She nodded slowly, reluctant. "I'd like you to show me, but... you need blood, right?" Jamie eyed him warily; specifically, his visible injuries. "You're already hurt enough, Caleb. I don't need to see a demonstration that badly..." She ran her tongue over her lip, tasting the slight metallic tang there. "Would my lip work, for the blood?"

Something about the thought of using Jamie's blood made his stomach give a lurch. He shook his head immediately, refusing. "No." he said, frowning at her, a troubled, unhappy expression. "No, I'm not using yours. Ever." he said. "Just...don't worry about it, I don't need a lot, I'm not giong to do anything big. Can't. It would cause serious damage, and I doubt we want to leave much evidence." he said, but he turned to push the window up. "You can watch from here...inside." he specified, before dropping out into the side yard.

Jamie rolled her eyes at the ceiling. Stupid, chivalrous boy! She leaned out the window and shot him a scowl. "I swear to God, Caleb, if you take off running, I'm chasing after you! We're not done talking!" And then, because he'd seemed so concerned by it, she pulled herself back in the window and sat on the edge, keeping all her body parts inside as she watched him... work? Cast?

Caleb reached into his pocket and took out his pocket knife. He unfolded the blade, then scratched it along the inside of his wrist, opening up a little bit of a scratch already there. Because really, he didn't need to add two new ones. He let the blood well, then slicked his fingers through it. He thought about which spell to do, something she could see, and decided to do the much less widely ranged version of the ground-claw spell. He could do the first one he'd learned. He whispered the spell under his breath, centering himself as he did so. It was easier when he didn't have to worry about...ohhh being gutted by a creature while doing it. It was a weird experience. He dropped down once the spell finished, red light following in the wake of his hand and he cracked his palm against the ground. A single line rose up from the ground, like an invisible claw had just raked through the grass and earth beneath it. It only went for about ten feet, leaving a line there from him. He watched it stop, then looked up to Jamie, not saying a word.

As he watched, waiting for her reaction, he felt the backlash hit, a slice across his right side, not deep, but he hadn't expected it to be. The spell hadn't been one of his more hardcore ones. So hey, that was a plus. Of course, he was randomly bleeding now, but it would prove a lot more to her.

She watched his little demonstration, and the moment she saw the red light, the color drained from her face. She felt positively sick when she saw the earth rise, but it was only because now she could clearly picture him, picture Caleb, using this to fight for his life. And not necessarily against people, either, which just made everything far worse. 'This wasn't self inflicted.'

Jamie hopped out the window, not saying a word, staring blankly at the ground. But she didn't stay still long; soon, she was flying at him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly to her, burying her face in his neck and fighting back tears. "Why you?" she murmured in his neck, not caring if he couldn't hear her.

To say he hadn't really expected that reaction would have been an understatement. He'd expected the opposite, really. Fear, something. Her shutting the window and calling the police, possibly. Just not that. Caleb was left blinking, at the sudden armful of Jamie he had, and he wondered how she'd got there. It took him a second to recover, and he put his arm around her, though he wasn't sure how to not get blood on her right then. His wrist was bleeding a bit again, he had blood and dirt on his other hand, and of course she was probably going to get blood on her arm from where his side was bleeding. In the end he settled for carefully putting his arms back around her. "Why me...I don't know if I understand..." he said quietly, because he definitely didn't.

Jamie took a few deep gulping breaths, but his scent, it wasn't the same as before. There was iron there now. Blood. She drew back, shaky. "You don't deserve... this. You deserve better. Why you?" she clarified, even though she was somewhat dizzy and confused and suddenly terrified, because God only knew how many times he had done that. Done that worse, because this? This had been a demonstration.

She shook her head violently to clear the daze from her mind. There was time for panic and terror and breaking down later. "You're bleeding," she said shortly. "Come back inside." She grabbed him gently by the left forearm and pulled him back towards her house, climbing back in her window and immediately dashing for the first aid kit in the bathroom, trusting Caleb to come in on his own.

He did, climbing back in and shutting the window. He sat on the sil, because he didn't really want to get blood anywhere else, and sure, he was only probably actively bleeding from the side, he was still in fact, bloody. His wrist he just put pressure on to stop the bleeding, which worked out fine since he hadn't really cut it that badly. He hadn't needed to. He waited for her, leaning back against the glass and he looked up at the ceiling. He could hear music faintly from the computer. Portishead had found it's way onto the playlist, and he decided that was appropriate. Roads, actually. So yeah. Appropriate. Please don't freak out too bad, Jamie. Don't kick me out and never talk to me again. And especially don't start pitying me. Please please please. She'd been talking about equality, and if she started with that, it wasn't going to be equal by a long shot.

She came back considerably calmer than how she'd left, dumping the bandages and the alcohol on the bed before approaching him. She gently took his wrist, her eyes flat as she eyed it critically. "This isn't enough blood to explain the smell," Jamie said after a long moment, her voice quiet. "What else is there, Caleb?"

He looked at her, telling himself not to pull back from her taking his wrist, and he managed. "Blood magic has payback. Backlash. So everything I do...it hits back." he explained. "So I've got a cut on my side." He paused, then nodded to her arm, which had faint blood stains on the sleeve of her shirt. It wasn't soaked through or anything, but definitely there. "Sorry." he said, voice quiet.

Jamie glanced at her shirt before shrugging. "It's just a shirt. You're more important." She sighed, eyeing the scratch on his wrist. "Let me clean this one, put a band aid on it. It's shallow enough that that'll do," she murmured, reaching for the first aid kit. There were a few cleaning swabs inside, and she opened one of those, swiping it carefully over the scratch. A plain band aid followed, and she ran her thumb lightly over it, her eyes still flat and too-steady as she looked him in the eyes. "You'll need to take your shirt off, Caleb."

He winced. "It's okay..." he tried. Showing her a little bit was okay, but showing her the rest? Not good. Of course she'd also see the rest of the damage. He didn't particularly think that was the best idea in the world. Caleb was thinking that she might very well do it herself if he didn't, though. But he still had to see if it would work.

She gave him a Look. "Shirt off, Caleb," Jamie tried again, her voice pleasant in a 'that wasn't a request' sort of way.

Caleb sighed. Then reached up to tug his shirt off. He kept it over his arms, though, half shielding himself from her gaze, even if he knew it was futile. Just a couple more seconds before she had to see the whole thing, before she had whatever reaction she was going to have. Horrified? Pity? Revolted? D-all of the above?

E-none of the above, actually; Jamie's eyes immediately darted to the fresh slash, and she was kneeling beside him to examine it in seconds, her gaze steady and unwavering from the wound as she eyed it critically. Distantly, she'd seen the scars littering his torso, but her mind was currently focused on one thing: making Caleb feel better. Or at least, stopping the bleeding.

He looked down at her, then let his shirt drop down to the floor. He rested his hands on the sill as he sat on it. It was kind of fascinating, in a detached sort of way beneath the horror of feeling so exposed. Watching her, and how intent she was. That was something that drew his attention, even if he would have thought that was impossible. He reached up to drag his fingers through his hair, getting it out of his eyes as he suddenly couldn't look away from her. Funny, how before he'd had such a bitch of a time looking at her at all.

She kept silent as she cleaned away the blood and disinfected the gash. In the back of her mind, she was suddenly very grateful her paranoid tendencies had her keep the house stocked with a ridiculous amount of first aid supplies; she had a bandage big enough for this, thankfully. Jamie rummaged through the kit, glad she'd kept one of this size inside. Saved her another trip to the bathroom. I'm going to have to get more stuff, she thought dimly. With Caleb around, she had a feeling she'd be needing a steady supply of bandages.

The bandage was applied in the same intense silence, and she kept it pressed gently to the wound. Only then did she let her eyes wander along his bare torso. "Are all of these from fights and blood magic?" she asked, her voice quiet.

He nodded. He still didn't know what the hell she was thinking about it all. But he was watching her every move because of it. The gash on his chest was now fully visible of course, the four lines. And the bandage on his arm that hid the stitches. She couldn't see the scratch on his back shoulder, so that was something. Caleb kept waiting for...something. Some reaction. He could feel her hand on his side, almost like it was burning there, the pressure there to stop the bleeding, but it was still just her hand on him to him.

Slowly, the steady calm ebbed away, leaving Jamie pale and shaky. Her hands began to tremble, and she leaned forward, resting her forehead against his knee. Her eyes slid closed, and she took in a deep breath. She kept one hand pressed firmly upon the bandage, but the other slid to the floor to hold her up. Thoughts ran through her head faster than she could keep up, faster than she could grasp them to put them into proper words for any sort of conversation. "You're so much stronger than I could ever hope to be," escaped from her lips in a quiet murmur.

Caleb reached out, not really thinking about it as he did so, to brush his fingers through her hair. Gently, just a soft little gesture. "It's not strength." he said quietly. "It's just...this or I get myself killed all the faster. Do you see now?" he asked quietly. Do you see everything? Why I don't like contact, why I wanted you to stay away from me, why I didn't want to tell you?

"It is strength," she insisted, finally looking up at him. "It's strength because you're still fighting. You're still alive. You're here. And that's strength. Strength of will at the very least, but it's more than that." Jamie's eyes drifted over his scars, and her expression became sad. "You don't... you don't deserve this. Is this why you don't like to be touched? You deserve better than this, Caleb."

He twitched away from her then, sliding away from her entirely and he walked away, towards the wall, just somewhere that wasn't right there in immediate contact with her. "Don't look at me like that." he said, voice close to a whisper it was so quiet. Maybe now was time to go. Or maybe a few hours ago was. He couldn't tell. God, he wished he hadn't said anything, just left it and not gone for that next level of truth. He kept his had down, back to her.

She grabbed his hand with both of hers. "Don't leave," Jamie murmured, closing her eyes. "Please don't leave. I just... God, Caleb," she finished on a whisper, keeping her eyes closed tightly. She could still see the scars in her mind's eye, and it hurt.

"Don't." he said, voice quiet but sharp, an edge beneath it. He also tried to get his hand away, tugging at it. "You wanted me to tell you things so I have, I don't need...don't look at me like that." Yeah, he wanted to be elsewhere then. He'd take anywhere on the planet but right there right now. Anywhere. Inside a volcano would be preferable. So long as he couldn't hear her like that.

She stood up unsteadily, not releasing his hand. She tightened her grip on it stubbornly, opening her eyes to frown at him. "What's wrong?" Jamie asked quietly, wary of his sudden change in mood. He was defensive all of a sudden, and she didn't like it. At all. What did I do..?

"Let go." he said, since he didn't want to pull away hard. There were some things he wasn't willing to do, and anything that might harm her was topping the list right then. He kept his gaze pointed away from her. She could just let him go, he'd leave, and everything would stop. He'd go back to the way he'd been because it was easier. There had to be a reason both of his brothers were completely anti-relationships, and this he was willing to bet was it.

She gritted her teeth, glaring at him, hugging his arm to her. "No. What the hell is your problem, Caleb? What did I do wrong?" And she was looking at his face, her gaze steady and no longer the slightest bit sad. She was just confused, with increasing sparks of irritation.

"I don't need your fucking pity, that's what." Caleb snapped, looking back at her, but not quite in the eyes. "I don't need you feeling bad for me. Or for anything that's happened to me either. It happened, it's over, it'll happen again." And I don't need you looking at me like that. "Let me go."

"That's what you think?" Jamie snapped back, stamping her barefoot on the floor in irritation. "I don't pity you, idiot! I don't feel bad for you! I think you've gotten royally fucking shafted in life, and I think you're doing the best with what you've got! But if you think I'm going to let you leave here tonight angry, Hell, if you think I'm going to stand by and watch you go at this alone, you've got another thing coming! You're stuck with me, Caleb, whether you like it or not. Go ahead, call it pity, even if it's not. It's called support. Maybe I can't do blood magic, but I can at least be here to patch you up after a fight. I'm good with first aid, and you've obviously not been taking the best care of yourself after these scraps. I'm offering to help, okay?"

"Jamie, it won't matter anyways, anything that I get that's backlash? Is going to scar. It all does. I could take the best care in the world of it and it wouldn't matter. It'll be there." he shot back, and now he could meet her gaze. He was glaring at her, and he even shifted a little more towards her. "Let. Go." he said. He hadn't tried to pull away again, since he really didn't think she was going to comply.

"Who cares if it scars?" Jamie shot at him, still angry. "I'm talking about the fact that it doesn't look like some of these cuts on you have been cleaned at all! I don't fucking care if they scar or not, but I don't want you to bleed to death or get an infection!"

Bleeding to death? Distinct possibility. He turned towards her fully, abruptly, and pushed her back against the wall. "Infection? Jamie, the cut there? That's tame." He snapped, and even with her still holding onto his other hand, he reached up to tug the bandage off of his right arm off. "This is more what it does most of the time. Infection's the least of my problems." If she could put two and two together, and maybe she already had--if this was a payback he could live with, what he was up against must suck. He looked at her face, eyes hard on hers. "Let me go."

She eyed the cut, her gaze going back to flat and calm, but the angry undertones were still there, flashing just under the surface. "No." Jamie stood up straight, glaring at him. "That? Is exactly why you need help. And it's a two way street, damnit. You've helped me, Caleb. The least I can do is help you in return. It's not pity. It's give and take! Equals. You help me, I help you. Or did you prefer when it was one sided?" she spat bitterly. "Do you only like your girls weak and clingy, is that it? I offer to help, so now you just want to toss me aside? I told you when we met I wasn't looking for a knight in shining armor. What are you looking for?"

"God damnit, Jamie, let me the fuck go!" he hissed back at her, right hand clenching into a fist. There might have been just the faintest thread of desperation beneath his anger. It was starting to hint through, though not clearly yet. He was starting to need to leave. Worse than before. "I don't want you involved in this, and you shouldn't have to put me back together when this is just going to keep fucking happening!"

Jamie continued to latch onto his arm, not the slightest bit intimidated. If he was going to hurt her, he would have done it before now. "I won't," she said stubbornly, still glaring at him. "I already am involved in this! If this is your warped attempt to protect me, you can shove it, Caleb!" she hissed back, glowering at him. "It's my decision to make, not yours."

He hit the wall beside her head, not her, palm flattening against it. He glared into her eyes, jaw set. He wasn't even going to argue with her anymore. Partly because he thought she was probably right, partly because he didn't have anything more to argue with. The only thing he had in reserve was the fact that he was half demon, and...no. That he wasn't going to say yet. He couldn't. Not yet. Maybe never. It would depend, but still. He waited, to see if she'd comply, or if she was still determined to hang on.

She didn't even flinch; she'd been expecting him to do that since he'd first shoved her against the wall. Jamie eyed him boredly. "That the best you got, tough guy?" She linked her fingers through his captive ones, showing no sign at all of releasing him.

Caleb ticked his eyes between hers for a moment, then dropped his gaze. It was somewhere near her throat, eyes following the line of the chain she'd been given earlier, then down to the pendant. He leaned in just the slightest bit, not a lit, his head dropping down a faint bit more, near the side of her face. "Please." he said softly.

Jamie considered it. He had said please, but... "What will you do if I let you go?" she questioned, internally wondering just what the hell Caleb was doing. Weren't they arguing? Maybe this was some new tactic to throw her off and get her to loosen her hold on him?

"Jamie...I should go. Okay? Do you not see that for some reason?" he asked, voice just as quiet as hit had been a moment ago. Caleb was still looking at her necklace, not her eyes, and he was feeling warm. Anger had helped with that, but that wasn't all of it. Part of it was her. The way her fingers were laced through his, and she held his arm close. Warmth. Her.

"You're still going on about that leaving thing?" she sighed, shaking her head. "No, Caleb. No." And now she was filled with panic, because he wasn't even angry anymore, and he still wanted to leave her. "I accepted the magic. I accepted you're going to keep fighting. Why can't you accept that I want to help you with this, any way I can? I want..." Jamie bit her lip harshly, blood immediately welling into her mouth. She turned quickly away from his gaze. "If you can honestly tell me you don't want me around because of me... Because something's wrong with me, and you can't stand me anymore..." her voice trailed off, because she just couldn't say it out loud.

He shut his eyes and leaned forward until his forehead rested against the wall just beside her head. She seemed so tiny there. He was taller than her, yeah, but right then she seemed even smaller. Why, he couldn't put his finger on. Maybe it was what she was saying. He couldn't tell her that, because it wasn't anything to do with her. Drawing in a deep breath, he was close enough that he was the tiniest bit against her. It wasn't intentional, but he didn't move back, either. "It's not you." he said, very quietly.

Jamie made a soft noise at that, squeezing her eyes shut tightly and shuddering with relief. For a long moment, she'd been terrified he would say it... and then where would she be? All alone again, with her world completely upside down. She hugged his arm tighter to her chest. "Then I'm not letting go," she whispered.

Letting out a breath, Caleb turned his face in towards her neck. He didn't do anything more than that, even if he wanted to. She was getting to him. Being where she was, feeling her warmth there, it was hard to ignore. Even if he'd wanted to get the fuck out of there, there were certain things that were undeniable about Jamie and his reactions towards her. Hell, it was the bottom line of a lot of things. He was attracted to her. And arguing with her? That didn't make that go away. Might even have had the opposite effect. Which was why he needed to leave. "Please." he whispered, very softly, just next to her ear.

"Why?" she asked him plainly, turning to look at him, an unreadable look in her eyes. "Why do you want to leave, Caleb?" What did I do?

He was burning willpower. He really, really was. And so far he was okay, but she really needed to let him go soon. When he looked back at her there was a heat in his eyes, though it wasn't anger. Also? He couldn't answer her. No way in hell. There weren't words. Nothing that might make sense, anyways. Sense and he seemed to have parted company a while ago. Like, when he started talking when they got here. Sense had taken off sometime around there.

Slowly, she relaxed her grip on his arm. That didn't mean she let go; her fingers stayed linked with his. But one arm was now free to do anything she pleased. Jamie ran her fingertips lightly down his cheek, tracing along his jaw, down the scratches on his neck to rest lightly on his collar bone. She hummed with the music, still playing softly in the background, not really paying attention to what was playing.

For whatever reason, Caleb hadn't expected that. So much so that he didn't even have the presence of mind to stop her. What it did accomplish was a shudder went through him. He couldn't help it, it just happened, a race down his spine that was unhideable. She wasn't allowed to do that. Fuck. "Jamie..." he started, but he really didn't know where that sentence ended.

She licked her lip instinctively, swiping at the beads of crimson there. "Hm?" Her fingers continued to move, now trailing lazily over the scars on his chest. She watched him, her eyes darker, deeper than they usually were. Caleb was still here, and he was pressed against her, just a little bit, but it was enough to have her stomach aflutter. It was strange; he'd moved steadily closer to her since pressing her against the wall, but she'd been so preoccupied with keeping him with her here that she hadn't noticed how close he had gotten. At least, not until he'd said her name.

Eyes ticking down when she licked her lip, he couldn't get his eyes off of it for a minute. At her tracing, he shut his eyes for a second, another shudder going through him. When he opened up his eyes again, he managed eye contact, for a moment that seemed to go on forever. Fuck it. he thought, a second before he slid his free hand over, going behind her head into her hair which he used to hold her there. It was something he did quickly, only a second or two. There was one more heartbeat where he was looking at her, before he kissed her. It was not a gentle, first kiss sort of kiss. It was a hard, intense one. He brought their joined hands up above her head, using her holding onto his hand to pin it there as he pushed her hard agaisnt the wall. He could taste the blood there as he swept his tongue over her lip then between them.

Jamie's eyes grew wide and she went slack, but only for half an instant. Then her eyelids fluttered closed and she was kissing him back, matching his intensity. She brushed her tongue hesitantly against his, wrapping her one still free arm around his neck to keep him near. She squeezed the hand pinning hers to the wall as well as she was able, making a soft, pleased little noise in the back of her throat as she pressed her body against his.

He wasn't sure when his plea to be released had changed from his desire to leave to his wanting to prevent something stupid from happening. He really wasn't sure at all, they both had mixed together in the end there, though at this point there wasn't any turning back. He was pressed against her, and he gripped her hand back in return as he kissed her. He didn't mind the taste of her blood. He dealt with it so much it really wasn't an issue for him. It was possible he even liked it. Yeah. Just possible. It wasn't at all making him kiss her all the harder, wanting to get the taste of it. Her. Both. His hand in her hair tightened the slightest bit as well.

This wasn't at all what she imagined her first kiss to be like, with a bleeding, shirtless boy shoving her against the wall and kissing her breathless, with her blood in both their mouths. It was much better than anything she'd ever thought up. She threaded her free hand up into his hair and loosed a soft moan when Caleb kissed her harder. Her heart was pounding harder than it ever had in her chest, and her lungs were screaming for oxygen when she drew back with a sharp gasp. Right. Breathing. Funny, the things one forgot when kissing...

Breathing was over-fucking-rated. He really didn't like having to stop to do that, though...yeah. Necessary. He didn't draw back, kissing her one more lingering time before he rested his forehead against her temple, listening to his heart thudding in his ears, and both of their breathing. Damn. Okay. Calming down was probably in order. Probably. Which wasn't really something that was gonna happen all that well when he was kissing the underside of her jaw back towards her ear and he felt like he wanted to do more. A whole lot more.

Calming down? Stopping? Farthest things from Jamie's mind... especially when he started kissing her neck. Jamie loosened her grip on his hair and tilted her head as much as she was able, a shiver running down her spine. "Mm..." Her eyes fluttered open and she gazed over at him heatedly. "Don't stop," she murmured quietly.

The best two words in the English language. Don't stop. They sent a rush through his system, like he needed any more help there. He slowly let go of her hand, though it was just to slide down her arm then her side, his other starting a slow exploration as well. He held her gaze for a moment, then did as asked. He kissed along her neck, and just beneath her ear, he nipped at her skin the tiniest bit. While certainly capable of something sweeter than this, their current mood suited him much better.

She rested her now freed hand on his shoulder. Her breath hitched and heat rushed through her body to settle low in her belly when she felt his teeth against her skin. She dug her nails into his shoulder, only belated thinking of his injuries and loosening her grip. "Ah..!"

The sparks of pain sent shivers through him, though it wasn't a bad thing. She had managed to pick the shoulder that he had the cut down, but really? Right this very second, pain did not deter him. Felt good as far as he was concerned. It was probably the first time ever that it did, but...yeah. Something about her, and the situation was making it so he so didn't mind. He drew in a deep breath after he'd gasped when she'd done it. It had rocked him a little off balance since it had been unexpected. He breathed into her ear. "...do that again." he whispered, almost inaudible even that close, but he wanted to see if it would happen again, that jolt of a rush through him.

She hesitated for a moment, but feeling his warm breath against her neck, the heat of his body against her, had her shuddering. She dug her nails back into his shoulder in a desperate attempt to ground herself, but this time she didn't let go. This was so far out of the realm of what she'd expected to happen tonight, all of it combined had her reeling and dazed and she just wanted... "More."

When she finally did dig her nails in again, a violent shudder raced down his spine and his breath hitched. He made a soft sound, it breathed into her ear. When she spoke, however--god. He kissed her again, immediate, hard, right back in to what they'd been doing before, only this time there was slightly more purpose to it. Running his hands over her, mapping her out, that was going on, and he pushed against her too.

A soft, pleased whimper escaped her when his hands began to move, every place he touched feeling as though it were on fire. Ohgodohgodohgod, she thought, kissing him back for all she was worth. She tangled one hand back in his hair and sent the other skittering down his bare chest, lightly scraping the skin with her nails.

Caleb broke the kiss again only because breathing was again becoming an issue, though he added more, even as he tried to catch his breath. Seemed like he couldn't quite get enough of that, the taste of her, everything. He ground hard against her, realizing that while she'd told him not to stop, he'd definitely have to sometime here. Possibly before he drove himself completely insane. That was looking like a possibility, after all. Because fuck if he didn't want her. Bad. However, while he knew that wasn't going to happen, that didn't reign him in at all at current. He'd already been burning willpower before he'd given in to kissing her in the first place, it would be a bit before he could work up any more.

She let out a soft, breathy laugh, feeling deliriously giddy and hot. Every noise he made, every touch to her body, every little kiss and the way he was grinding his hips against her; it all sent heat to pool between her legs. Jamie started planting kisses on his lips, over and over, moving down to press them against his jaw, his neck, his fluttering pulse. When she reached his ear, she brought the lobe between her teeth and tugged on it gently, tracing her tongue along afterwards.

That earned a moan, and he wondered if she wasn't trying to kill him, only in really creative ways. Well, if so, at least he'd die happy. He slid his hand down her side, over her hip, then down farther. Grasping her knee, he brought it up alongside his hip, holding it there as he ground against her again. It was a great idea and a horrible one at the same time, of course, because it just successfully made him want her all the more, but damn it felt good.

"Ohgodohgodohgod," Jamie whispered, leaning back against the wall for support. Her hands rose back to his shoulders and she dug her nails into his skin, clinging tightly to him. She rocked her hips against his, shuddering as she did so. She had an almost terrifying moment of vertigo, but he was there, and holding her, and she trusted him, and he wouldn't let her fall, and for some twisted reason she was even more excited now than she'd been before.

He was pretty sure she wasn't allowed to say that. It just let him know how much that one little thing had effected her, and of course it didn't help him whatsoever in the 'yeah by the way this could only go so far tonight' mentality. And of course he did it again. It was her rocking back against him that had him just about dying, in the sweetest sort of way. Caleb went to kiss her again, though this time, it was slower. Not any less intense, it just happened to be timed with grinding against her which was also a slow process this time, to drag it out, prolong it.

Her arms slid up to wrap around his neck, to pull him closer and keep him there. Soft noises escaped from her with every grind of his hips. She moved against him desperately, trying to encourage him to move faster. Why had he slowed down? And why weren't they losing clothes? That seemed very important all of a sudden; she had far too much on, especially compared to Caleb. "Clothes," Jamie whispered against his lips. "Too many," she managed to say, though even those three words were difficult. It was insanely difficult to manage coherent speech, what with the way his hips continued to move against her.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered how he'd gotten there. Really, really wondered. They'd been arguing, and he'd been trying to leave, and now it was the absolute farthest thing from his mind. Right now, he didn't think there was anything that would be considered close enough that wasn't inside of her. Of course, he really couldn't do that. Right? There were things to consider. Not the smallest of which was he was fairly certain she was a virgin. Things were far too complicated. Even so, he wanted to feel her better against him. So when she mentioned that there were too many clothes, he immediately tugged her shirt up, pulling it off over her head and then he pushed immediately back up against her. He went back to kissing her, hand ghosting over her bare skin, and all he could think of was that he wanted to feel more of it.

That was better. Worlds better, even if her jeans were still on and she was thinking more along the lines of complete nudity. But it was a start. She kissed him enthusiastically, pressing against him, a soft moan escaping from the feel of skin against skin. Yes. Now that was more like it!

He started to slide the straps of her bra down her arms, though the idea of pulling her back away from the wall wasn't the best one. That would mean he'd have to pull away some, and that seemed like such a bad idea. A really really horrible one. The alternative to that of course was the bed. He wasn't sure if being there would tempt him all the more to go as far as possible, but for the moment, he was remaining where he was. He liked the wall. He concentrated on her again, enjoying the feel of her smooth skin against his marred flesh.

Jamie sighed against his mouth, moving her lips to press against his neck. Stupid bra. She leaned against him for support. "Hold me up," she murmured into his ear, then reached back with one hand and undid the clasps herself. She drew away from him long enough to shimmy her arms out of the straps, dropping the accursed thing to the floor without hesitation. She pressed against him afterwards, feeling a delirious rush of heat as her bare chest brushed against his.

He did as she instructed, of course. Then he was assaulted by a bunch of sensations. An appreciative sound was breathed, along with a muttered breath of 'oh god'. This was so not fair. He pushed her back against the wall, to press up as completely against her as he could, grinding hard against her again as he held her knee firmly to his hip. He could feel the heat from her, and wanted nothing more than to touch her. He managed to hold off going for it, though, being wrapped back up in kissing her like he might never get to again.

There was one single moment where everything was clear. How did this happen? No, really. Weren't we arguing? she wondered idly.

And then he ground against her, and she let out a choked, breathy sob. "Oh God," she whispered, hips jerking up to meet his motions. "Bed. Now. Please."

Now he never would have thought it. Never in a million years, but her ordering him around like that? He was already turned on more than he'd ever been in his life, and itjust got pushed up another notch. Turning them both, he kissed her as he walked her back towards the bed, where he pushed her over onto her back. He of course wasn't far behind as he climbed on after her, over her, where he kissed then bit at her neck, settling on top of her.

God, yes, that was so much better. She wrapped both of her legs around him, locking her ankles together to keep him there. She ran her hands down his back, along the scars, mapping them out with her fingertips. Jamie grew still at the feel of stitches, but only for a moment; the heat inside was just too much for worry to overcome, and soon she was scraping her nails down his back. She rocked her hips up against him in time with the still-playing music while insistent, eager little noises escaped her lips, unbidden.

Oh god oh god oh god... it had been good with just one of her knees at his hip, it was so much better with both. That along with her scratching him, even if it was lightly served to just about drive him insane. How did he deal, here? For all intents and purposes, she seemed to not be even considering stopping. And god he wanted her. The sounds she was making were making everything that much more intense, and he wanted to hear more. Wanted to know what she'd sound like when he did other things. He slid his hand down her bare side til it hit the top of her jeans, then he he followed the line with his fingers til he got to the button.

Somehow, she managed to still her hips then, even though it caused a needy whine to emerge from her throat. Moving against him, though very nice, would not help him in getting off her jeans. She gazed up at him with heavy lidded eyes, licking her suddenly dry lips. "Please, Caleb," she whispered hoarsely. Her nails bit harshly into his skin then, her entire body trembling from the effort to stay still.

He looked at her, then squeezed his eyes shut. "Fuck..." he breathed at her nails, that and her plea getting him to pop the button on her jeans, then slide the zipper down. He slid his hand inside, against her abdomen, and he moved it beneath the band of her panties and over to her hip to push both down. His heart was threatening to drown out all other sound, though it didn't quite. Caleb was looking at her, the look in her eyes, and of course the way she sounded when she spoke did even more to him. Wasn't this the girl who didn't even date? Who'd never so much as had a boy in her room? How had they gotten here?

Jamie wriggled and squirmed out of her jeans and panties, kicking them off of her and off the bed completely. After that, she hesitated, because now she really was completely naked. Wonderful time for jitters to hit her, right when the last of her clothes hit the bedroom floor. What the hell am I doing? she asked herself, completely dazed, feeling a sudden flush of heat in her cheeks.

He looked down at her, he'd had to move off to her side when she got her jeans off, and he stayed there for now, aching for her but well. He couldn't not drink in the view. He reached out, half propped up on his arm and he trailed his fingertips from hr mid thigh and up around her hip, the lightest of touches. He'd known she was beautiful before, but...yeah. Beautiful. Which he decided to share with her. As his hand settled on her hip, both of their skin heated, he leaned in to nuzzle her neck, kissing along it. "You're beautiful." he told her, in a soft whisper.

Well, if anything reassured a nervous naked teenage girl, that was it. She shivered once at his hand resting on her hip, and again when he began to nuzzle her neck. "Oh," she murmured at his words, unsure what to say and suddenly feeling very clingy. Jamie wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close and burying her face in his hair.

Caleb felt it when things changed. Like having all of her clothes off sort of woke her up into a situation she wasn't prepared to deal with. The reactions to that in him were all over the place. Obviously overwhelming frustration was real high up on the list. But other things were too. It was a mess in Caleb's head--what else was new. He hadn't moved his hand much, just a little, it had slid from her hip to low on her abdomen but he hadn't touched her. Not yet. Even if part of him was absolutely dying to. "Jamie..." he whispered softly. "Do you want me to stop?" And fucked if he had no clue how he might want her to answer.

She took a deep breath. Did she want him to stop? She nuzzled his neck, planting a little kiss on a bite mark she hazily remembered leaving near his ear. She stayed quiet for awhile, running her hands lightly along his shoulders and back, listening to his breathing and his heartbeat; just feeling his body against hers, warm and strong. "No," she said quietly. "I don't want you to stop."

He didn't know where he was going to stop. There was that virginal thing to worry about. And maybe she wasn't and he was just stupid, but that was giving him pause. He didn't want to hurt her. And somewhere in the back of his mind he did know that going from a first kiss to fucking was probably a big jump. Probably one that she'd just hate in the morning. And quite possibly him along with it. So, he made a decision. He wasn't going to be finishing the deed here, as much as he was absolutely dying to. But...he could do something else he wanted, and she seemed like she did too. Reaching up to tip her face back towards his, he kissed her, slow and intense, heartbeats before he slid his hand down the rest of the way to touch her.

Jamie was quietly grateful for the slower kis. It greatly helped relieve her anxiety, and--Oh. She gasped into the kiss, raising her hips up into his touch as a shiver shot down her spine.

He actually smiled into the kiss then, the reaction a good one. He? Was about to die. From the feel of it, she was just as bad off as he was, which just turned him on all the more, making up for the momentary comedown. Which was probably unfortunate, because he'd already made up his damn mind, but still. Damn. His touch matched the kiss, slow but very intense, as he explored what got what reactions.

She kissed him in return, pouring herself into it. She was distracted, yes, but the frantic, desperate heat had been replaced by a slower burn. She indulged herself, kissing him tenderly, trying to express herself without words. Jamie's hips moved in time with his touch, her entire body beginning to shudder against his.

He loved that. The feel of her shaking a little. He stepped up what he was doing, a little faster, a little more insistent. The kiss was the same way. He'd brought everything back down, and now he was building it up again, even as he pressed himself against her hip. He broke the kiss when he had to breathe again, and pulled back just enough to gaze down at her, to watch her expressions as he touched her.

She threw her head back and moaned, her hips arching off the mattress just a little bit as his pace quickened. "Oh God, Caleb..." she whispered, her nails digging into his shoulders once more. "Don'tstopdon'tstopdon'tstop."

Definitely the best words ever. He smiled, even if her eyes were shut and she wouldn't see it. He didn't stop of course. He kept it up, and he pushed it again, faster, harder. It was fascinating to watch her. To listen to her, to watch the pendant of the necklace she wore slide off behind her neck into her hair, and how that was tangled. He gasped in a sharp breath at her nails again, which had him grinding against her hip once more, because it wasn't as if he'd forgotten about himself entirely just because he was taking care of her. Though right then, all he wanted was to hear what it sounded like when she crashed.

For her, the world had been reduced to just him; just Caleb, just his hands, and his breathing and him grinding against her hip and that little gasp he'd just made. Her eyes fluttered open to gaze up at him, clouded over as they were, and he was smiling and that just made all of this absolutely perfect.

She crashed over then, right after she opened her eyes, causing them to go opaque and dreamy. A throaty moan escaped her as her body went momentarily taut, and then she was left shuddering, clinging tightly to his shoulders and making soft, pleased little noises as she came back down.

He was going to remember that forever. When she clinged, he let her, pulling her closer to slide his arm around her back to hold her to him. He liked the fact that he could feel her shaking a little, and he stroked her back lightly. The sounds she made he was adoring too. One thing that was going to haunt him was the way she said his name. That was just...yeah.

She curled up close to him, body still trembling faintly. After burying her face in the crook of his neck, she inhaled his scent, giving his ear a little nuzzle. That had been... very nice. And when he began to stroke her back (which was even nicer), she made a pleased little humming sound in the back of her throat, and arched up to meet his hand. "Mmm... Caleb..."

He smiled, leaning back and taking her with him. "Feel better?" he asked. She sounded like she felt better. She sounded downright content. Which was at least good for her. He had to calm down, but he'd manage. He was still kind of mystified as to how they'd got there, but he'd figure it out later. And hopefully she wouldn't decide to hate him tomorrow, too.

She rested her head on his chest, nodding. She hadn't felt this good in weeks. Months, even. Apparently any sort of sex was great for relaxation. "What about you?" Jamie murmured, peering up at him. "I could... if you tell me what to do?" she offered, raising her eyebrows just a little. It was only fair, after all; his current condition was her fault.

Caleb looked at her, and considered. It wasn't like he didn't want her to touch him. He really did, actually. But, her having to ask what to do sort of just reminded him again loud and clear about that whole virginal thing. And so he knew he'd wind up feeling guilty over it. But then again, he probably would be anyhow. "I'm okay." he said, giving her a faint smile and a soft brush of a kiss. Now some other time, maybe. But first of all, they should probably figure out what happened next. With them.

Jamie shifted to look at him consideringly. It was tempting to argue with him, really tempting, because she could still quite plainly feel that he wasn't okay. And her being naked and laying pretty much on top of him probably wouldn't help with that at all... But... She sighed, snuggling against him. "If you say so. I'll fight you on it next time we do this, though," she murmured. Because in her mind, there just wasn't a question. They would be doing this again, unless he suddenly found her repulsive (and he'd called her beautiful only a few minutes ago, so she couldn't see that happening anytime soon), but hopefully they wouldn't have to get into a huge argument first.

He quirked a little half smile at her. "Next time?" he asked, because he just had to. There was of course the thread of amusement beneath it. He sure as fuck wouldn't be complaining about a next time. He kind of half reached over to tug up the covers beneath them, putting them over her. He was smiley, he couldn't help it. He didn't know how things had happened, and was suspicious that he'd be spending the rest of his life trying to figure that out. But for now he wasn't even trying.

"Well, duh," Jamie grumbled, though there was playfulness beneath it. "I'm sure we'll end up in yet another argument one day and do that again... even though it'd be just as nice without the yelling at each other first, don't you think?" she questioned lightly, tracing his scars with her fingertips and not looking at his face. Too nervous; much too nervous to look him in the eye after saying that. Being rejected while laying in bed naked was probably the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone, ever. Ever.

He loved the way she looked then. That cute little nervous air around her. And she was tracing scars. For once it was kind of...he liked it. "I dunno, we're good at fighting. I like fighting with you." he murmured, smiling at her again and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "But you're right, we could probably manage it without that first sometime." Because apparently he was plotting a next time too.

She risked a glance up at him after the forehead kiss, and oh God he was still smiling, and she was still cuddling with him and he wasn't twitching away. For a brief moment she considered asking where the hell the real Caleb was, but she decided she liked this one just fine. He had her feeling all warm and gushy inside, and there was a happy little flutter in her chest that wouldn't go away. "So," Jamie began, clearing her throat nervously. "What are we now? Because it's not just friends anymore, and if we're planning to do this sometime without the fighting first, we can't just be arguing partners..."

"I don't know, I wasn't really plotting it when I kissed you." Caleb said, absently playing with her hair a bit. He really hadn't been plotting anything, really. He'd just...had to kiss her. Everything after that had happened on instinct. Or something... "What do you want us to be?" he asked, searching her eyes. Did she have a label in mind?

Her cheeks flushed a little. And that was ridiculous, really. Eye contact shouldn't make her blush. Being naked and in her bed with him was something to blush over, not him playing with her hair and looking her in the eyes. Yes, her logic was completely backwards. "You meet all the requirements for me breaking the rule," Jamie said, her voice very quiet; almost inaudible. Oh, now she was shy. Ridiculous.

"Yeah?" he asked. Then smirked very faintly. "And yet that didn't answer the question." he pointed out. "Unless that's your way of asking me out." he added. Which sooo should be a moot point by now. But they really probably should figure out what exactly was going on.

She made a face at him. If he was going to be difficult about it... "Nevermind, we can just be friends who have really great arguments," she huffed, swatting him playfully.

He laughed, and kissed her, letting it draw out. "Sure that wasn't you asking me out?" he asked. He added another kiss for good measure as well. He was a bit playful now. He'd calmed down slowly, and while sure, that didn't mean he wasn't frustrated, he'd live. And, assuming there'd be a next time...

Oh, she was a happy girl now. She smiled cheerfully, a playful glint in her eyes. "If I ask you out, that makes you the girl," she proclaimed, smile changing to a grin. She planted a quick kiss on his lips. "You might wanna think that out or you'll have me going around town calling you my bitch."

He tickled her side for that, no way in hell he couldn't! Not for that comment! "Brat! Fine, fine. Jamie, will you go out with me?" he asked. He was smiling down at her, in close as he brushed another kiss over her lips. God, was he about to get an actual girlfriend? Jesus, when the hell did that happen?

She laughed, squirming away from his fingers and grinning up at him. "Sure," Jamie managed on a giggle, brushing her lips against his jaw. This? Was not how she'd expected today to go. But she wasn't complaining. Definitely not. "Now you realize we did all of this totally backwards, right?"

"It's my lot in life." Caleb said. "I don't usually do anything the right way. I'm not sure if you know this about me, but I'm kind of a fuck up. Hopefully that gets a little better from now on, but..." he shrugged. "But yeah. Backwards. Oh well, are you complaining?"

He did keep saying things like that, that he was a fuck up, but she didn't buy any of it for a minute. "Nope. And I wouldn't trade any of this for the world, either, strange as it all is." She knew tomorrow she'd probably be mortified she'd been so eager to get naked, but... well, she'd think about her apparent hobaggery tomorrow. "Will you stay here tonight?" Jamie asked after a moment of contemplation. "It's already late, and, well..." her voice trailed off, and she chewed on her lip. "Please stay?"

He thought about it, then eventually nodded. "...alright. I have to call and let Dorian know, but I can ask." Then he paused. "I actually have to get up and go in to his bookstore tomorrow morning, so I'll have to get up early. I said I'd help him at the shop."

She nodded agreeably, processing that. Dorian, the brother who hadn't been involved in whatever last night's 'incident' was that had gotten Caleb hurt. The brother she actually planned to be genuinely nice to, instead of smiling sweetly at and yelling at him the minute they were alone together. Hopefully that wouldn't upset Caleb too much when it happened...

"Okay. I wake up early every morning anyways, so I can make sure you're up." Jamie wriggled out from under the covers, trying not to blush (again) over the whole naked thing. She grabbed her discarded jeans and drew her cell phone from the pocket, dropping it beside him on the bed. "I'm gonna... um... put a shirt on. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Jamie said with a nervous little laugh, standing up and going to her dresser, ducking her head while she looked for something to wear.

Caleb had to quirk a little half smile as he watched her go to her dresser, appreciating the view for a moment before he opened up her phone and dialed home.

"Hello?" Dorian said, picking up the phone. It wasn't a number he recognized, but when was it? The only people that tended to call his cell were Mathias and Eury, and this was neither. Which reminded him-- he needed to call Eury about paint ball.

"Hey, Dorian." Caleb said. And now he was suddenly nervous. Why? Who the fuck knew. "Hey, I'm still going to go do the store thing tomorrow, but I'm staying out tonight, that's okay, right?" he asked. Please just say yes.

Dorian smiled, just glad that Caleb was calling. This was where he became very unparent-like: the fact that Caleb had called at all got him the answer he hoped for. "That's fine," he said, "You're with friends, right?" The only thing that might have bothered him about the situation was if Caleb was wandering around town alone.

"Yeah." Caleb answered, relieved that Dorian wasn't going to give him a hard time, or ask what he was up to. Or who he happened to be staying with. "Thanks, Dorian. I'll just be here tonight, not going anywhere else. And like I said, I'll still be at the shop in the morning." She just wants me to stay, and I don't really want to leave either.

Dorian didn't even think to ask where Caleb was. He sounded safe and that was what he cared about. If he'd known it was with a girl, he'd have been teased a bit, but that was just par for the course. He'd have still let him go. "Welcome," he said, laughing a little. It seemed far too normal a conversation. "Have a good night then. Thanks for calling."

"Welcome. See you tomorrow." Caleb said, feeling better. That hadn't been painful at all. Sweet.

While he was on the phone, Jamie pulled on an over-sized t-shirt. She usually slept in them anyways, and the ones she had fell nearly to her knees. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her naked now anyways, and she'd only be gone a minute. Quickly and quietly, she picked her discarded clothes off the floor, along with Caleb's bloody shirt and slipped out of her room, making a quiet dash for the laundry room. She dropped the load into the washing machine, set it for cold water, dumped in the detergent and headed back for her room, hesitating at the door.

This has been the weirdest day of my entire life. Scratch that, the weirdest week. Ever. In the history of days and weeks, in the history of me. And it hasn't even been an entire seven days yet. For a moment, she pressed her forehead against the door jam, taking in a deep breath. Cute boy (boyfriend!) half naked in her bed with a gash on his side he'd made himself demonstrating his blood magic. And after an intense make out session against her bedroom wall, she'd nearly lost her mind (and virginity) completely.

And now he was staying the night, hopefully. Right... Weirdest. Week. Ever. After one last calming breath, she pushed open the door and headed back inside, shutting it quietly behind her, leaning against it afterwards support. Why was she so nervous? It was her bedroom. He'd seen her naked. He'd touched her while she was naked. I am being an entirely too silly girl about all of this.

He looked over at her as he was putting her phone on the nightstand, which he was amused to see had the rock he'd given her. But his eyes settled on her, and he had to think to himself that she was cute with just a shirt on like that. "I can stay." he said, wondering if she was going to freak out yet. Because he was kind of thinking somewhere in here, freaking out was going to be happening. All of this had to shatter somehow, right?

Jamie smiled faintly, nerves momentarily soothed. "'kay," she murmured, pushing away from the door and heading over to crawl back into bed. "I'm washing your shirt. I can't say it won't stain, but at least it won't smell like blood and be crunchy in the morning."

"Not really worried about stains." Caleb said, shrugging. "I don't think I own any clothes that aren't stained." he added. Since really, he was pretty sure most of them had something. Faint blood stains somewhere on it. Drops, lines, whatever. He was laying out, eyes following her as he wondered yet again how he'd gotten there. In Jamie's bed. With her, no less. And she knew what she tasted like, and had the scent of her all over him and...how had that happened? But he smiled back at her.

She hesitated again, eyeing him curiously. Where did his no touching rule stand now, anyways? She scooted closer to him, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. "Is it..." Jamie began, frowning, not really sure how to word her question. "You don't mind if I act all girly and cuddly now, right?" she asked carefully. "'cause I'm not sure I can keep my hands to myself, but I can try if you want me to."

He thought about it. "I can't promise that I'm going to get over twitchyness overnight." Caleb said. "...though right now I'm alright, so...take it while you can?" he suggested. It still wasn't personal, he hadn't been lying when he'd told her that it wasn't her. It really wasn't. Though it was slightly easier now that she knew why, anyways. "Mostly it's just the scars and...everything that goes with them. I never like having to try to explain."

Jamie nodded, relieved, before curling up beside him and resting her head on his chest. "Okay," she agreed cheerfully. Yes, she would definitely be abusing the touching privilege whenever she thought she could. Her hand rested on his chest, above his heart, only for a moment before her fingers began to map out his scars again, lazily trailing along them. "I really am okay with all of this, you know," she murmured. "It's still sinking in, it's still strange... but... I can handle it." As long as you don't leave...

He watched the progression of her fingertips along old wounds. He could remember most of them. How long they'd taken to heal, that sort of thing. "I figured you'd think I was crazy, or dangerous, or something." he said, voice a little quiet. "Most people would. I didn't want you to be afraid of me." Even if you probably should be.

She thought of earlier; when he'd slammed his hand against the wall by her head. She'd known he wouldn't hit her then, wouldn't hurt her. And when he'd lifted her leg? She'd known he wouldn't let her go. "I trust you, Caleb. I'm not afraid of you. This?" She splayed her fingers over his chest, over a particularly deep, nasty scar. "Doesn't change that. At all. I have more reason to worry about you now, but... at least I know part of the why of things. That helps."

"So I guess it explains a lot about me, huh." he said, a little ruefully. He was looking down at her, and he traced his fingers over the curve of her shoulder. "It's weird. I never told any about this stuff. Hell. Mathias just found out last night. So...this is new for me. It'll take getting used to."

A soft, pleased little noise escaped her when his fingers trailed along her shoulder, and she gave him a happy snuggle. God, she was such a girl today. "It does, but... I still think I'm probably missing some things. So, blood magic exists, and you can do it... and it does this." Her finger traced along yet another scar, this one near his ribcage. "What else is out there, Caleb? What else don't I know about?" she asked, her voice a quiet murmur.

He sighed, starting to trail his fingers through her hair. "There's a lot out there." he said quietly. "Are you sure you want to know this? I don't know everything...there's...well, okay. I can tell you some stuff, then, maybe come visit me at Dorian's shop tomorrow? Nevermore, it's a book store. It's pretty much full of information about the supernatural and what that entails."

"I want to find out as much as I can. I want to find a way to help," Jamie insisted. "I'll be there tomorrow. I think I've been there before, so I'll be able to find it. Chrissy went in once and came out giggling over a book on sex magic and love spells."

Caleb smirked faintly. "Yeah, those exist." he said. "Not that I've ever done them..." I don't think. "But...I dunno. Maybe it'd just be easier to see it in a book than hear it from me. I don't think I'd do a very good job explaining things. But there's a lot out there. Most of the things that people don't believe in do. That much I know. Like your standard vampires and werewolves n shit." He tilted his head a little and pointed out the faint marks left from the vamp attack. They were pink dots by now, but visible.

She peered up at him, eyes growing wide once they landed on the tiny pricks. "You... wha... vampire!?" Extra points for her for forming the most unintelligent non-sentence ever!

Caleb winced. "Shh. Yes, vampire." he said. "See why I didn't really wanna get into it? It's kind of disconcerting if you're just figuring this stuff out. But yeah, one jumped me not too long ago. I got him off of me and shit, but..." he shrugged. "That's why my back hurt before. The backlash from that needed stitches. Ten stitched me up. She doesn't know either, though. She's...sweet, and naive, I don't really want to drop the bomb on her that there really are monsters."

Stitches... right. She'd felt them earlier. It was beginning to sink in now, just how horrible the backlash could be for him. Her eyes drifted to the deep gashes on his forearm, and Jamie bit her lip. "I have to learn about it sometime. And the sooner I do, the more help I can be," she pointed out quietly.

He noticed her looking at his arm, and moved it where she could get a better look if she wanted to. Might as well, it wasn't like he could hide it. "Just promise me you'll never get into anything like this." he said, and there was something beneath his tone. A strength. He didn't want that ever.

She smiled faintly, but there was a sadness beneath it. "I'll leave this to you," Jamie agreed softly, her gaze focused on his arm. She wasn't strong enough to do what he did. "But there has to be something for me. Something I can do to help, besides slap a bandage on you and call you fixed. I just have to find it," she stated calmly, determination in her tone and reflecting in her eyes.

"I'm sure there is. There's...white magic." Caleb suggested, steering away from the subject of black magic. Yeah, he'd seen some black magic practitioners that were like fucking crack addicts. Not pretty. So hell no was he going to be suggesting it to her. "That's like, protection spells and shit like that." His particular adventures in life so far usually didn't involve anything so tame, however, so he knew little about it.

Jamie made a face at him. "That sounds considerably less kick ass than what I was hoping for, but you could probably use some things like that in your life," she noted dryly. But yes, she would definitely be looking into white magic. Tomorrow. As far as she was concerned, she should have known all of this yesterday. "So if there's white magic... is blood magic like black magic, then?" she questioned.

Of course she had to go and ask. Damnit. He sighed. "Not really. Black magic is...it doesn't do damage like this? But it's addictive. It's like mystical crack. Bad stuff. Yeah, you can do interesting things, but I don't know if it's worth it. I'd say not with some of the people I saw back home." Nevermind his own brand of magic could potentially kill him just from backlash. That wasn't the point. They weren't talking about him, they were talking about her. Sort of.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. Yeaaah... no. Being addicted to cookie dough ice cream was about as far as she ever wanted to go when it came to unhealthy habits, thanks. "Okay, that's out then." But she'd still look into it. A 'just in case' precautionary measure, if nothing else.

He quirked a smile. "Thank god." he said. "But...yeah. I don't know. Come into the shop and look around, maybe you'll find stuff you want to read about, and they'd be a lot more reliable resources than I would be. Or...or my brothers might be. Dorian's the one who went to college for everything, and Mathias has just been around." Though he wasn't sure how that would work. Jamie around his brothers? That might be the worst idea he'd ever had.

"I need to... talk to Mathias? The older one? Him. I need to talk to him, anyways," Jamie said, her smile too cheerful. "Alone, preferably."

Caleb eyed her warily. "...why do you look like you plot to like, take out his entrails and string him up somewhere or something?" he asked. Anyone showing that many teeth wasn't smiling. That was plotting.

"Oh, no, honey. That'll be our second talk. Hopefully he won't need two of them." And she was still smiling, flashing far too many teeth.

A brow went up at that. "...and what exactly are you planning on telling him in this first talk?" he asked. "And why?" He just wasn't sure at all. She looked fairly evil like that, and he wondered how she ever managed to convince people she was a good girl. But then she'd kind of nixed that idea in his mind tonight with what they'd done.

If he'd said that 'good girl' thing out loud? She would have laughed at him. Jamie Sullivan had never claimed to be a good girl. The assumptions people made... honestly. "I'm not entirely sure yet. I'm fair, I'll give him a chance to defend himself and everything," Jamie assured him. "What I say after will depend entirely on his explanation. No worries."

"Why is it he's going to have to defend himself?" Caleb asked. "I don't recall him doing anything to you, really. I think I would have remembered." Then possibly kicked his ass--or died trying. Something like that. Though the idea of having to get the drop on is brother was disconcerting. He didn't think he'd be able to do it. And Mathias could definitely kill him with no problem.

"Of course he hasn't done anything to me." She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm assuming he had something to do with these, yes?" Jamie gestured to his latest, non demonstration related wounds. "He was there. What did he do while you were bleeding?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Stood back and tried not to get hit by what I was doing. Made me think I was alone. Generally brought me out into the middle of nowhere then sicced creatures on me. Caleb thought. He shrugged. "He had his own fight to deal with." he answered. Which was true. Sort of. Kinda maybe. It was his theory and he was sticking to it, damnit.

She sat up then, gazing down at him with heavy skepticism. "So when I meet this brother of yours, he's going to be beat up, too?" Jamie questioned, her eyebrows staying raised.

He looked slightly pained as he gazed up at her. "Not really. But he's...really good. At like, everything. So that's why. I'm just not nearly so good at anything like he is." he explained, thinking that wasn't really a decent explanation. Even if it was true.

Jamie frowned at him, Displeased. "I seriously doubt that," she muttered, grasping his hand and linking their fingers together. "Don't worry, I'm not going to gut your brother." Yet. "We might even get along, you never know." After I determine if he needs to be bitchslapped or not, of course.

Caleb sighed. "He gets along with everyone." he said. Or most people. People that weren't Ten. Or recently Dorian. "He's that guy that women meet and fall over themselves to give their phone number to." he explained. "Like the girl at the bar that was serving us? Like two looks from Mathias, and she was giving free drinks and her number. He's That Guy."

Ohh, so he was That Guy. Yeah, she probably wouldn't be getting along with Mathias then. She had yet to meet a That Guy type she could stand to be around for longer than a few minutes. Caleb's older brother would most likely not be an exception. "I see," Jamie said calmly, only a tiny bit of a frown showing on her face. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't intend to give him mine," she stated dryly.

He smirked at that, half playing with her hand that she'd given to him, an idle activity he wasn't paying much attention to. "Well that's a plus. I'd hate to think you'd pass me over for my brother. That would really suck." he said. "I'd be really jealous." he added, chancing a glance up at her though his eyes ticked back down to their hands.

She grinned at him, shaking her head and biting back a laugh. He really didn't get it, did he? That he was the first, the only boy to catch and hold her interest like this. She could never dream of having any other boy half naked in her bed, with her wearing just a shirt, after knowing each other for really only three days. And that wasn't even touching on what they'd done to get into bed in the first place... "Jealousy? That's adorable," Jamie said with a 'awh'. "And completely unnecessary, too." She gave his hand a squeeze.

He wrinkled his nose. "Fuck, I'm back to being a puppy again." he said with an over-dramatic sigh. He squeezed her hand back, though. "But yeah, jealousy." He was kind of figuring himself for being one of those types who didn't play well with others. Or share well. Yeah he was probably going to have to work on getting over it. Or at the very least hiding it.

"Puppies don't get to see me naked," Jamie pointed out, shifting to sit in his lap, straddling his hips. To keep him with her. Because, yeah, this discussion of jealousy was like a big screaming sign that she needed to tell him about... a certain someone. Yeah, it was that time, and they were probably about to argue. Again. "I have to tell you something, and if what we're talking about now is any indication, you aren't going to like it."

Caleb leaned back against her pillows, definitely not protesting the position, though her words immediately made him wonder. He gave her a wary sort of look ask he rested his hands on her thighs lightly. "...okay, well don't keep me in suspense." he prodded.

Oh, maybe this position had been a bad idea after all. Hands on thighs? Nice. Very nice. Distracting nice. But she could do this! "On Tuesday, after we met, I met two other guys," Jamie began, diving right into it. Screw skirting around it, they were dating now. Honesty was officially the best policy. "Thom and Isaac. Seniors. And they're in a local band called Promise Theory."

Yeah she was right. He hated this already. Mostly because she hadn't mentioned these people before. Two random seniors in a band? And she was an amazing singer. Awesome. That was just fucking perfect. He tried not to tense up, but he did. "...okay." he said, waiting for her to finish. Unless it was just that she'd met two guys. He couldn't really find anything that he'd hate about that though. She was a pretty, nice, engaging girl. Of course she was going to meet people.

"The thing is..." Jamie sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away. Anywhere but at him. The wall was nice. Very neutral. "Isaac... he's a great guy. A really awesome guy. Wonderful, and he kind of sort of... I'm pretty sure he's crushing on me." She worried her lip between her teeth for a moment, not quite drawing blood. "But... you... Caleb, there's just--" Yeah, she was totally failing at this. "It's you. It's been you since day one. And I only just realized that this morning." Her face fell, and God did she feel sick. Isaac...

Caleb was very very still. It was less that she was talking about a guy she met that was crushing on her, and more the look on her face. Everything about her posture was screaming that something was wrong, and that along with everything else was really just serving to make everything feel worse. A lot worse. Because now he was wondering about what he didn't know. If maybe she liked him too. What with her stressing just how awesome he was. Yeah that didn't ease his mind the slightest fucking bit. The other stuff she said helped a little, but her praises of the other guy along with how she was looking all added up to Badness. One thing he knew. When she was going to be telling him this kind of shit? She needed to not do it while she was sitting on him like that. Way to put a bad association in place.

She closed her eyes, feeling the guilt crash down on her all over again. "I didn't want to hurt anyone. I wasn't expecting any of this to happen. It's... I don't even know what I'm trying to say anymore. I just wanted you to know. They invited me to band practice tomorrow, and I'm going to it... and they're playing at a party on Sunday, and I'm going to that, too. But..." Fuck, what was she trying to say? She was just rambling at this point, and probably pissing him off or boring him or whatever. She clenched her hands tightly together, nails pricking harshly into her skin. "I don't know. I care about you. I've never, ever felt this way before, Caleb, except with you. Isaac's an awesome guy, and I probably shouldn't have told you that, but he's not... it's not right. It doesn't fit for me. We're not equal."

"Can you get off of me?" Caleb asked. His tone was light. "When you're sitting there angsting over some other guy, I'd really rather you not be sitting on me." he added, and tried to keep his voice from being so tight, though that didn't work out entirely. There was still an edge to it.

She slid off of him wordlessly, sitting on the mattress and hugging her knees to her chest, frowning at the wall. And now, of course, was the part where he left. Because she was a stupid hobag. Well, the relationship had been nice while it lasted, right?

Caleb sat up, back to her, though he didn't leave. "So, you're invited to band practice on this guy who wants you. And you're going to that and some party he invited you to. You know that sounds like you're dating, right?" he asked, half looking over his shoulder at her. "Because if it was me..."

"It does?" Jamie questioned, her voice very quiet and her brows furrowing. She hadn't even thought of that. At all. "I... I love their band," she explained softly, plucking at the sheets. "I told him Tuesday I wanted to be at their next gig. I didn't even think of that... and they're trying to get me to sing for them, so..." Her voice trailed off, and she hugged herself tighter. "God, I didn't even think of that," she muttered, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Yeah, you don't tell a guy who wants you that you're going to go hang with his band at practice, then go to a party with him. Doesn't exactly say 'friends'." Caleb said. Great. So he'd managed to get a girlfriend, but it was one who was almost going out with someone else. Who liked her. Awesome. "Are you going to be joining the band?" he asked lightly. He was battling feelings on that one. "You really are a great singer." he added. Because that was true. Nevermind it would make him twitch every time she went to practice. Or whatever.

"No," Jamie said without hesitation. She'd decided that the moment Caleb had made his demonstration. She was needed elsewhere. If she could somehow manage to shuffle her life to include one thing, and it came down to learning about the supernatural to help save lives (especially Caleb's) or joining the band for her own enjoyment? Yeah. No contest. Of course, if Caleb dropped her now and took off, she'd still study up on magic. She would help him, and be in his corner, whether he liked it or not. "I'm not joining the band. I'm going to tell them tomorrow. And I'm going to tell Isaac about you Monday, because I don't want to ruin his gig. It makes me a complete and total bitch, either way, but..." She lifted her tensed up shoulders in a shrug, ignoring the pain it caused.

God, that seemed shady to him. She wasn't going to mention she had a boyfriend to the guy who liked her until Monday after she'd spent the weekend hanging out with him? He blinked and gave her an incredulous look. How did that work? Jesus, would she have done the same thing to him, if this other guy had gotten her interest? Or had he just made the first move? She'd said it was all him, that she hadn't felt the same way about anyone but him, but still. Right now, he was listening to a girl tell him that she planned on palling around with someone who liked her and not bothering to mention that she had a boyfriend. For another two days. When she'd be spending time with him. Where did he fit in? Did it mean that since he was some dirty little secret that he wasn't invited to the party with her, and she was just going to go with what's-his-name?

She rubbed at her eyes unhappily. This just seemed like... a horrible idea. A horribly bad idea, all around. She could tell Isaac tomorrow and possibly ruin his show, or she could wait until Monday, which was just... horribly dishonest. "I don't know what to do. I don't..." Jamie shuddered, feeling cold. "I can't ditch them, I don't want to ruin their show, but I don't want to lie, and I don't... I don't know what to do." And she was rambling, and Caleb didn't even care anymore because, really, why should he? She was just proving how horrible of a person she was right now. Go her.

She scrambled off the bed, still rubbing at her eyes. They were burning, and crying? Away from Caleb? Good idea. Right now. She'd get right on that. "I'm gonna sleep on the couch, okay? You can have my bed and I'll wake you up in the morning, and... and it's okay, you don't have to come around anymore."

Caleb groaned, reaching out to snatch her wrist to stop her. "Do not even start with that bullshit." he said, standing up and looking down at her. "You don't get to just tell me you're going to hide me from a guy who likes you while you're going to go hang out with him for the next two days and then run off and tell me that I don't have to come around anymore. What the fuck, Jamie?!"

"You... I..." Yeah, not looking up at him. Eye contact bad. She didn't attempt to tug her hand away, however. "I'm horrible. That's why you don't have to come around anymore," she explained quietly, wriggling her toes in the carpet. At least she wasn't crying, like a stupid girl. "I... If you think I should tell him tomorrow, I will. Would that be better? I'm new to this. I've never... I really haven't had a lot of experience with this whole boy thing. Just jerks, and they don't count. I don't want to hurt him, but I don't want to mess things up with--" she hesitated. Was there even still an 'us'? Had she completely ruined that? "With me and you," she finished lamely. Was she even making sense? It didn't sound like it in her head. "You're more important to me," she admitted, her voice nearly inaudible.

Caleb sighed, frowning down at her. "God, I feel bad for him and I don't even know him. And it makes me twitchy because he wants you...and I still do. Jesus, what you're talking about...either you don't know anything about the way a guy's head works, or something." Or you really are a bitch. "You go to practice, and then the party, and you don't at all mention a boyfriend to someone who wants you...that's leading him on. And...what, were you just going to go out with him and I'd stay home? Go out to some party with this guy and...what?" he asked. "Makes me feel like I'm something to hide. Some dirty secret. I don't get at all where you think that doing things like this is a good idea." He looked away.

"You're not a dirty secret," Jamie murmured, shaking her head. "You're the best person to come along in my life in years. Possibly ever." God, she actually felt alive around Caleb. Instead of just trudging through the same daily routine, she actually... acted her age. Had fun. Enjoyed herself. And she could talk about things without feeling guilty later... "You really think he'd be better off if I told him tomorrow?" she asked, uneasy. "I don't want to lead him on, and I know I already have and I want that to stop."

"I think if you hang out with the guy all weekend, he's going to think he's got hope." Caleb said. "I know I would." Or, most guys would anyways. "I'm not telling you what you should do, that's up to you. I'm just saying it's fucked up for you to go play nice for two days and not mention to the guy that you're taken. What if he tried something at the party?" The party which she hadn't answered him about. But not the issue. He was just going to...attempt to forget about that. Yeah.

Jamie sighed, rubbing at her eyes with her free hand. "I don't think I understand guys at all, but... that makes sense. I'll tell him tomorrow. I wasn't going to stay very long at their practice, anyways," she murmured. "And I hadn't thought of him making a move at the party, either... I guess I just thought he'd be playing the whole time," she admitted. Of course, that wasn't very realistic on her part. Even musicians needed breaks.

Caleb sighed. "Wouldn't really matter." he said. "I don't think he would be, and either way, you showing says something. Look, do whatever you want, I just..." he trailed off, not sure what to say anymore now. And he still didn't know about the party thing. He thought she should go, because her being social was good, but at the same time, he didn't.

"I'll tell him tomorrow," Jamie said firmly, moving her hand to thread her fingers with his. Him mentioning her being taken, even after this horrible, miserable failure of a conversation she had started had not slipped past her notice. "And I'm not going to go to the party Sunday, either." Going to something like that stag, when she was no longer single? Psh, yeah, right. Even she knew that was bad for a relationship as new as theirs, and Caleb seemed less than interested in attending. Besides, she would have plenty of reading to do by then, and she would be able to spend more time with her aunt. Missing a party? Not the end of her world.

"You sure you don't want to go?" Caleb asked in a wary sort of tone. "You can, I wasn't saying...I wasn't trying to be a controlling fucker or anything. You can go and do whatever you want. I just..." he trailed off. He just didn't want her doing what she'd said she was going to. No matter what way he looked at it, it looked shady.

She frowned at him. "I don't want to go anymore unless you're going to be there. I only planned to go at all because I told Thom and Isaac I would. I don't like breaking promises like that, but... if I'm going to tell him about you tomorrow, he'll be better off not seeing me again. Ever."

"You live in a small town. There is no never seeing someone again. But...if you are going to tell him, maybe it would be best not to go. I don't particularly think parading around in front of him then would be such a good idea." He invited trouble a lot, he didn't crave that kind. And just because he could fight didn't mean he wanted to pick one with this guy he didn't know.

Jamie lowered her head, finding the carpet fascinating. "Exactly. I couldn't do that to him. He's just so... nice. So I'll just stay home Sunday. It's his gig, and there will be other parties."

Caleb drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. He was still feeling tense, but slightly less so. "Okay." he said quietly. He didn't get into all the things that had run through his head when she'd told him her plan. That would be counterproductive. So instead he gave her hand a squeeze, then backed towards the bed again, pulling on her hand so she'd go with him.

She went with him, feeling a little lost. She almost wished he'd be mad. Mad she could deal with. Mad she felt like she deserved right now. "Are you sure? I can sleep on the couch. I kind of ruined the good mood, here," she murmured, stopping when her knees hit the mattress.

"It's your house, you're not sleeping on the couch." Caleb told her. "If you don't want to sleep-" with me "-here, then I'll just go home." he said. He made sure that didn't sound passive aggressive. He didn't mean it to be. It wasn't a manipulation. Just...her fucking house. She wasn't sleeping on the couch.

Jamie shook her head quickly, clasping his hand with both of hers and stepping closer to him. "No!" She bit her lip. Oh, hurray, now she looked clingy. Or insane. Either one, really. Maybe both? "Um... no, that's--I just..." her voice trailed off. "Nevermind." She sank down onto the mattress, keeping hold of his hand. "Please stay."

He considered, then nodded. "Okay." he answered, then reached over to click out the light. The moon outside coming in through the window would provide enough to get situated by. And the music was still playing softly. Wait, maybe that hadn't been the best of ideas.

She blinked in the dark, eyes adjusting to the light, and then she smiled faintly up at him. Jamie tugged on Caleb's hand, pulling him to join her as she lay back on the bed. When he got close enough, she leaned in and gave him a soft, lingering kiss.

He allowed himself to be tugged down, and when she kissed him, he kissed her back. Everything had been so frantic before, and now he was hit with wanting to kiss her like this? And the only thing different was they'd fought a second time, and now the light was off. Yeah. That made sense.

Her arms slid around his neck and she pressed herself closer, though this time it was more for cuddling's sake than anything else. This kiss was different; slower, gentler, but just as intense. "We should talk less and do that more," she murmured against his lips. "What do you think?"

He slid his arm beneath her and around her, nodding the slightest bit before he initiated another kiss. It had the same sort of slow gentleness to it, and the intensity behind it--just not the urgency. Like he could take his time. He deepened it, going for that before he even thought about it.

A soft noise came from her as the kiss deepened, though she wasn't even aware she'd made it. She kissed him tenderly, intensely, following his lead. One of her hands threaded in his hair, while the fingers of the other began to trail lazily along the back of his neck.

The sound made him shudder. And he was already going to be frustrated again. Shit. He kissed her, though, sliding his hand down her back. Caleb continued until oxygen was becoming an issue, when he drew back. Okay, he needed to...calm down. Yeah. Good plan there. Why couldn't she sit on him during times like these? See, that would have been nice. He didn't say anything about it though. They should probably get sleep. Or something.

Jamie wriggled consideringly against him. She'd felt that shudder, and the hand sliding down her back was very nice. Nice enough that she arched her back into the touch, loosing a quiet, encouraging murmur as she did. She leaned in and nuzzled his ear affectionately, giving him a playful little nip on the neck. Hm, hadn't he sort of implied he wanted to sleep by turning off the light? Maybe she should stop?

There was a little sound he made to that, totally involuntary. He couldn't in the least bit help it, it was just there. God. Weren't girls usually the ones that had to be coerced into things? And there she was...just making him all the more aroused. Shit. He tilted his head so she could nuzzle, lightly dragging his fingertips back up her back.

She shivered as his fingers moved up her back, but... it was late. "D'you want me to stop so we can sleep?" she asked softly, running her fingertips in little circles down his neck and along his shoulder blades.

That was probably the most unfair question in the history of questions. It ranked up there with wives asking their husbands if something made them look fat. Because fuck no, he didn't want her to stop. But he knew they'd probably already gone far farther than they should have being tonight they'd had their first kiss for fuck's sake, and that had graduated to Jamie getting off. Yeah. Most people only hit second base if they were lucky. So no, he didn't want to. But he knew it was just going to make him frustrated as all hell. Belatedly, he realized he hadn't managed to answer.

When he didn't answer, she gave him another nip, right behind the ear, lingering with it this time. "You didn't answer," Jamie pointed out, her voice breathy and tinged with amusement. He'd even stopped moving, so there were no clues from his body language, either.

Another sound came from him. Tiny, involuntary. He moved a little closer to her too, because who wouldn't? Fuck. "You were distracting me." he managed to answer. Yay, he'd mastered it! Hooray. Now what? He still hadn't answered.

A quiet giggle escaped her then, and she smiled against his neck. "Sorry. And that's still not an answer," Jamie pointed out softly. And she stayed good; no more little bites, to give him time to think. Her fingers did continue to trail lazily along his shoulders, but how distracting could that really be?

That could be very distracting was the answer. Particularly to someone who wasn't used to being touched at all. It brought goosebumps up on his skin, and a little shiver went through him. "I know we should sleep." he said eventually. That was kind of an answer. He was being sensible in a way. Really.

Jamie snickered, drawing away from his neck to look him in the eyes. "That's not what I asked, babe, and you know it." She pressed a quick kiss to his lips, stilling her fingers. "But we should sleep," she agreed, secretly marveling at just how irresponsible she was being. She had to get up early. She had things to do!

...oh well, she'd worry about her serious lapse(s) in judgment in the morning, after he left.

Caleb had other things on his mind. None of which he could say to her, or do. One of those things he was so sorely tempted to do had to do with taking one of her hands and placing it elsewhere. Yeah. Couldn't do that. Really, he didn't trust himself with anything like that. Therefore.... "Yeah...sleep." he managed to say. His mind needed to be wrested from anything involving her and anything even remotely sex related. Like, now.

She eyed him curiously, but it wasn't as though she could see his face well in the dark. That had sounded remarkably... strained. On a hunch, she shifted her thigh to press against him. Oh. Oh! Well, that certainly explained things. "Oh, like you're going to get any sort of decent sleep like that," she scoffed, after a moment of silence.

He made a little sound. "Jamie..." he started. "I'll be okay." He continued. "I was earlier." he pointed out. Because yeah. It wasn't as if he hadn't been dying then. But yeah---truly didn't trust himself.

"And earlier, I was in a happy, fuzzy, non-stubborn place," she pointed out calmly, pushing lightly on his shoulder to get him on his back. "But now I'm back to normal, so I'm more inclined to fight you on it," she announced cheerily. She straddled him again, leaning back to rest against his thighs. Her fingers trailed down his chest to rest on the waist of his jeans, thumb toying with the button. "Still feel like arguing?"

Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuckohfuck. She was so not allowed to do that. That had to be against a rule somewhere. It had to be. She wasn't allowed to sit on him like that, and look at him like that, and...fuck. He did find himself reaching down to grab her hand, though. "Jamie, not a good idea." he said, and damn did it cost him something to say that.

She raised an eyebrow at that, and her thumb continued to caress the button. "Oh? And why is that?" she asked lightly, genuinely curious. She didn't buy for a minute he'd be able to come up with a reason for her to actually stop, but she'd let him try. It was only fair.

And how to answer that. Hm. Possibly because they hadn't known each other long, he'd only just kissed her today, and that had gone so far out of control that it was possibly scary? That he was figuring tomorrow she was going to have massive problems with how far things went? And oh yeah, last but not least, he didn't know if he had the willpower to burn right now to not push things right where he'd been avoiding before. D-All of the above. "I don't trust myself right now." he told her. Because it was the best of all the reasons. At least at current.

That earned him a Look. "I trust you," Jamie said simply. Too much for my own good. "And if you haven't noticed, Caleb? I've kind of been the one initiating all this stuff tonight. I was the one who told you to take off my shirt, I took my bra off, I was the one who suggested moving to the bed, I kicked off my jeans, and this?" She popped the button with her thumb, but kept her eyes locked with his. "Was also my idea."

Caleb pulled her hand, yanking her off balance down towards him. "Jamie...I'm asking you to stop." he ground out. God did he not want to. But he didn't. And her trust didn't mean anything if he didn't even trust himself. Because right now, he didn't feel the slightest bit trustworthy. And the flesh was willing and wanting, but there were other things beyond that. Like not fucking something up bad here tonight with a girl he cared about.

She fell against him, and for a few disorienting moments, her breath caught in her throat and her heart just stopped. She went completely still for several long moments before his request, the tone of his voice finally processed through her mildly panicky brain. "...are you sure?" she questioned, her voice oddly subdued.

NO. I'm fucking insane. He hated the tone she had. Turning his face towards hers, he kissed her. It was something he didn't think about before he did it, and he nipped the slightest bit at her lower lip. "I want you." he said, voice a little rough. "And I really, really can't have you right now, and if you start, I'm going to forget that." he informed her, quietly, but he hoped she got the point.

Her brows furrowed in confusion. She didn't understand, not really. She didn't understand her own emotions, her own reasons, let alone his. She didn't understand why she was so very willing to throw common sense out the window tonight. It didn't feel like a one time deal, either. It felt natural for her, and that was... frightening. Terrifying. She'd always known that compared to other girls, she could get easily carried away when it came to hugs and kisses and snuggling (from any source, really), but this was a different thing entirely...

She didn't know why she was so horribly disappointed when she should have been relieved. He said he wanted her, he wanted to wait. Wasn't that every good girls dream? A guy willing to wait? "Why can't you have me?" Jamie questioned.

Why? She wanted to know why?! Jesus... He had to try to concentrate enough to get himself talking again, coherently, because it wasn't like her current position was helping him any. He knew how easy it would be to change this from the most frustrating night of his life to something else entirely. How to answer. Did she want a list? "Jamie...I haven't even known you a week...and there's other things...I-" want you so bad... "-you're a virgin, right? I'm not wrong there?"

"I'm a virgin," Jamie agreed. She slid off of his chest to lay beside him again, still feeling oddly subdued after the mini jolt of panic from her 'fall'. And, of course, the things he was saying made perfect sense, so now she was just questioning her sanity. And really, was she not a hobag? She'd thrown herself at him! Well, at least she was getting a head start on that whole 'hating herself' thing... No need to wait for morning, she was already doing it. Hurray.

He winced as she did so, the double edged sword slicing deep. She wasn't there, making him want to say fuck it and go through with everything, and on the other hand, he was wondering if he'd hurt her feelings, or something. Yeah, wow was this night ever a huge mess. Like, all around. Her virginity presented a problem for him. It was going to hurt her, and...yeah. He wasn't entirely sure he was capable of that just yet. "I don't want to hurt you." he said quietly, and that single statement covered a multitude of things.

She reached for his hand automatically, linking their fingers. She was already hurting and she felt a little sick, but it had nothing to do with him or anything he had done; she'd never felt this way before, and it was scary and suddenly everything she'd done tonight was overwhelming. What was wrong with her?! No. Really. What the fuck was wrong with her!?

It took her a long time to answer him, perhaps too long. "You haven't hurt me. You'll never hurt me. Not on purpose," Jamie murmured. That fact she was sure about; he'd had so many opportunities already, and he'd certainly had motive to shove her back or hit her. But he hadn't. And she trusted that he never would.

Hearing her tone helped his situation. It was enough to kill off most of the other feelings he'd been having of the dangerous persuasion. "Are you okay?" he asked. Caleb had to, there wasn't any way he couldn't when she sounded like that.

Jamie gave his hand a squeeze, because the physical touch was the only thing currently offering her any shred of comfort. "Yeah, just thinking." About what was wrong with her. Why she'd thrown herself at him, oh, all night? Why it was that he was the only one thinking with his brain? Why she was acting like a corner whore?

"About what?" he asked, shifting onto his side now that it was safer to do so. He did fuss with the covers, bringing them over them both. Caleb had the feeling that he didn't know what was going on. Like he'd missed a step somewhere, and he didn't know where.

She paused, risking a glance at him. Ohh, wonderful, he looked worried now. And she didn't want to argue, and she certainly didn't want to tell the truth. Jamie bit her lip, gaze averting to the ceiling. What could she say, really? Oh, it's nothing, honey, I'm just wondering what flipped my slut switch. ...yeaahhh, that so wouldn't fly.

He sighed, then kissed her temple. "Get some sleep, Jamie." he said. Maybe things had just...gone past the point where coherency was at all available. So...yeah. "We can talk about it tomorrow." he added. Since he didn't fancy letting it go entirely.

"'kay," she murmured, though she was no longer the slightest bit sleepy. She did snuggle up against him, however, 'cause, yeah, she wasn't about to let the opportunity pass. He had said earlier that he wasn't sure how long this no-twitching thing would last, right? So yes, total privilege abuse. "Night, Caleb."

"Night, Jamie." he murmured back to her, kissing her shoulder. Then he shut his eyes, breathed in her scent, and attempted to get to sleep. It wasn't going to work for a while...but he was willing to give it a shot.