Hey Cinderella, can I be your Prince Charming?

Who: Jessalyn and Madock
When: Evening
Where: A variety of places starting at Jessalyn's home

So he'd managed to weasel the van out of Breezy and Bruce that night and showed up right on time for his date with Jessalyn. He'd done like before and got all dressed up for her. Black cargo pants and a white button down. And his ever present hoodie over it all. He'd even tried to do his hair. At least as much as he could when it was so rowdy. He parked the van on the curb and headed up the walk to her door, knocking lightly on the door and silently praying he wouldn't have to get investigated by her parents.

Jessalyn was ready to go and sitting on the steps while she waited for Madock. Her dad was watching some football game in the den with her brother, and her mom had taken her sister grocery shopping earlier, so Jessalyn was fairly sure she wouldn't have to do the parent introductions just yet. She was gnawing a bit at her fingernail while she waited, hoping that he hadn't forgotten her when she heard the car pull up. She could hear him before he even knocked, and she stood quickly to get to the door before her dad could get out of his armchair and head upstairs.

"Jess?"

His voice might have been muffled from being down a level, but Jessalyn heard him loud and clear. He'd heard the car and knock as well. She answered quickly to keep him at bay. "I got it, dad," she called. "Leaving!"

"Home by midnight."

"Yup!" She figured she might be home earlier if Madock had a curfew too. With a bright smile, she flung open the door to see him there on the porch. "Hi! I'm ready." She had taken forever in deciding what to wear, but had finally chosen a knee length red skirt and white flimsy top with her jean jacket. She figured most people would need a heavier coat, but she had a higher body temperature, so she wasn't too worried about the weather. "You look really nice," Jessalyn added, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door quickly behind her.

He smiled and let his eyes move over the girl. "You look nice, but you look like you'd freeze in that..." he said, gesturing towards the skirt. It wasn't short or anything, but still, it was freezing outside and he had no idea how her lady bits weren't already icy in that. "But yeah, nice. Pretty. Really nice." he smiled, leading the girl towards the van and holding the door open for her to climb in.

"I'll be fine," Jessalyn promised, walking with him to his van and getting inside once he held the door open for her. She hadn't wanted to wear jeans again. She felt too blah in jeans, and she was too skinny to really fill them out nicely anyway. Jessalyn grinned and reached for her seat belt, taking a quick glance around while he shut her door. Once he was inside with her, she smiled again. "I figured we would be inside for most of the night anyway." And wow, he smelled really good... again. Jessalyn knew he didn't need cologne, or any of that stuff, though she doubted he knew that.

He still was a bit skeptical, but he nodded a little in response to her answer and got into the van with her, pulling his seat belt across his lap and cranking the car. He pulled away from the curb and headed off int the direction of the movie theater. He couldn't help but glance over at the girl every couple of seconds, just out of the corner of his eye. Looking at her and silently grinning to himself. She was really pretty. Really, really pretty and most of him wanted to tell her that again and again, but he'd look like an idiot. So he tried to catch his attention and pull it back towards another topic.

"So, what'd you do today?"

"Oh! Not too much... I went to visit Ransom at work this afternoon for a bit. He works at the coffee shop on Washington. I don't remember if I told you that or not." She might have. Her memory was excellent, but it got kind of fuzzy around him sometimes, she'd found. "Then I went to the crafts store for some things, then the beach! One of my friends was there, so we talked for a bit. Uhm, then I went home and finished this jacket I was making myself, knitted for awhile, then took a nap." Jessalyn grinned and looked over at Madock. "You probably didn't want an entire itinerary, but... that's what I did today. What about you?"

He smiled at her when she gave him that list though parts of it he missed, attention on driving. He caught most of it though and let out a little laugh. "No, I asked you what you did today and you gave me a nice little list." he said. "Got what I wanted. Me... I didn't do much really. Kinda just hung out around the house mostly. I'm boring. But you knitted? What'd you knit?" Knitting wasn't exactly thte most interesting thing in the world to Madock, but it was something that Jessalyn liked, so he was going to at least show some interest in it."

"You're so not boring," Jessalyn said with a simple shake of her head. At least not to her! She nodded, thinking back to her afternoon projects. "I was just knitting a pair of mittens for my little sister. I generally don't knit things for guys, since you know, they hear 'knit' and think it's girly. I like to make hats and stuff for guys though... not that you asked me that." She shook her head and tried to rein in her rambling brain. "Ransom has like, fifteen hats and scarves from me. I don't know what he does with them all, but he seems to appreciate them when I give them to him. I think it's because he smokes? And the smell gets on his hats sometimes, and so I make him a new one because I don't think you can really get rid of that smell no matter how many times you wash it."

Madock chuckled. "Yeah, guess that'd definitely be a reason to appreciate new scarfs being dispensed." he smiled. It didn't take long for the pair to get to the theater and he found a parking spot, but didn't get out of the van just yet. "You're sure you're not going to like freeze in there?" he questioned. "I mean I know it's inside but.. still." Leave it to Madock to worry about her legs freezing off. Course, he wouldn't mind keeping them warm if need be.

"I'll be okay," she said again, glancing down at her legs herself. "I don't get cold easily and since we'll be inside, it won't be like we're ice skating again." Though she kind of wondered now if he thought she was silly for wearing a skirt instead of jeans. She had just wanted to look nice after all, and she didn't think she looked nice in jeans. Jessalyn smiled, despite that sudden thought. Even if she did get cold, she certainly wouldn't complain to him about it. Jessalyn unbuckled her seat belt. "I'm sure they have the heat on and everything, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure they won't be forcing you to freeze. Just think you have a higher tolerance for cold than I do." he grinned as he unbuckled and got out of the car, heading around to the opposite side of the van and opening her door for her. He smiled and offered out a hand. "Besides, if you get cold... I'm a pretty good supply of body heat."

"I'm naturally hot blooded," Jessalyn teased as she took his hand to get out of the van. "Although I might get chilly, so you'll just have to stay close by in case I need your heat... or something!" And she was just getting silly now. Jessalyn shut the door and kept her hand in his. "So you told me to pick the movie, and that was really hard because I don't know what kind of movies you actually prefer... so I picked three and then thought maybe we could narrow it down. Although maybe only two movies, since one was the new Saw movie? But I don't like gory gross stuff so I would probably end up fainting or something."

Madock chuckled, giving her hand a little squeeze and then letting it go, but only so he could slip his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him. "Well, you can have all the heat you want." he told her. "And no gore is okay with me. Maybe something funny... Doesn't really matter. I probably won't pay attention to it if it's a chick flick." he warned with a smile.

"Well, then maybe that narrows it down even more," Jessalyn said, slipping an arm around his waist. "I mean, we can choose something funny, but the two I had were like... a chick flick and some action shoot 'em up type thing." She figured she should have found out what kind of movies he liked beforehand. "So how do you feel about shoot 'em type movies?" Boys like explosions and stuff, right? And she was pretty sure she could watch it without getting bored. Jessalyn liked action as much as the boys did.

He chuckled. "Well, I don't mind shoot 'em up type movies." he assured her. "So I guess we've chosen our movie, now lemme buy the tickets and stuff." And that part didn't take that long, pretty soon they were handing said tickets over to the ticket taker and heading into the theater. "Want popcorn or something?" he questioned. "Drink. Something sweet, well no probably not cuz you're sweet enough alone. God... that was cheesy."

Jessalyn laughed, lifting her fingers up to her lips before she nodded. "A little cheesy, but it was more sweet than anything. I wouldn't mind a drink and some of those chocolate covered raisins! If you want to share." She actually would have preferred to hear what else he could come up with, and watch his cheeks get pink every time he said something he thought was cheesy. There was also a nice little change in his heartbeat whenever it happened, which she was also completely drawn to.

"How bout you get us a seat and I'll get us one of those massive drinks to share and some chocolate covered raisins?" he smiled. He dipped his head close to her ear then. "Preferably in the back so if I get bored with the movie I can amuse myself with kisses." he whispered. He pulled away from her then and headed for the concession stand line.

"Sounds fair." Jessalyn smiled and slipped away to head toward the proper theater. It was a quiet night, though the place wasn't completely empty. Ghosts kept people inside, she supposed. Their theater only had a handful of people scattered about. Like he suggested, she sat toward the back, the second to last row where no one was sitting. She got comfortable and found she was looking forward to sitting next to him for the next two hours than the movie itself.

A few minutes later, he made his way quietly into the theater and glanced around, finding her near the back and grinning the entire trip towards her. He handed over the drink and chocolate and sat himself down next to her. "So did I miss anything awesome?" he questioned.

Jessalyn took a quick sip of her drink and then shook her head at his question. "Nothing but me," she joked before setting her cup in the holder and starting to work on getting the candy unwrapped. "Are you going to be okay watching the movie? I know you're distractable and everything. I don't want you getting bored." She didn't mind that he was easily distracted, she just wanted to make sure he had fun.

"Well if the movie gets boring... I've got you to keep my attention." he smiled, leaning over to press his lips against hers for a quick little moment. "And for some reason... you can definitely keep my attention."

"It's because I'm so ridiculously interesting," Jessalyn pointed out, her eyes full of amusement before she leaned up to kiss him again. It was a definite plus that the seats were close together. She could feel his body heat from where she sat, she could smell him and even better, she could hear his heart beating. She wanted to nuzzle him all over, but she knew the other movie goers probably wouldn't appreciate that kind of show.

The boy part of his brain wondered why they'd even bothered with a movie when they could just spend the day doing this. He lifted a hand and moved it up to her cheek, kissing her back for a long moment before reluctantly pulling away. "Ridiculously interesting." he agreed. "You'd have to be with me, seriously. Ask anyone how much I pay attention. I think every teacher I've had has dreaded seeing my name on their list." he said with a quiet little laugh.

There went the tingles again. She was growing rather fond of them, actually. "Do you just find things boring? Or is it just like... ADD or something? Hard to concentrate on one thing for a long period of time?" She knew a few students who had that. Other kids were just simply distractable.. daydreamers. Jess tended to drift off in class now and then, but most of the time, whoever she was listening to usually had her undivided attention.

He shrugged. "It's hard to explain." he told her. "It's like my brain has all these different things going on at once that it's hard for me to like... focus on one thing at a time. My mouth latches onto like whatever and I could be talking about football and see someone I know and totally leave the conversation. Or like I'll be in English but my brain gets completely sidetracked thinking about football plays or something. Maybe it's ADD or something, but I'm not really sure. Just too much stuff going on at the same time in my head. Hard to keep up with it all." He'd never really talked much about it with anyone. Never gave anyone the play by play on how he felt about the whole thing. How his attention just got snatched up by whatever. But Jessalyn was just so easy to talk to.

"I would suggest like, meditation? But I don't think you would be able to sit through it," Jessalyn said with a small, teasing smile. "It seems like it's easy enough to catch your attention, but things, and people, just can't keep a grip on it. Like you're dealing with one thing, but your brain is already done and onto the next before you realize it. It's interesting, though. I mean, as long as it doesn't get you hurt, or in trouble."

"Yeah, meditation isn't something I think I could handle." he smiled. "I'd sit there for like five seconds and be totally onto the next thing." He shrugged a little. "I guess it's just part of me. I mean... yeah, it gets me in trouble sometimes, but I don't think I'd be the same guy if I was like more focused I guess."

"I like you the way you are now," Jessalyn told him honestly. "If you weren't easily distracted, I doubt you would have tripped over my legs in the hallway on Thursday." Which, despite the small bruise, was a very happy occasion in her mind. She just hoped he didn't get bored with her that way. That would suck. The lights in the theater dimmed and she settled back before offering him her open box of chocolate. "If you start getting the urge to leave during the movie, just let me know... I'll be okay with it."

He took a couple of pieces of the chocolate candy and gave her a smile. "I think I can make it through a movie." he told her. He popped the candy into his mouth and leaned back in his seat, fingertips sliding over to catch her hand, twining his fingers through hers. She was warm. Soft skin against his hands and he smiled again as he turned his attention towards the movie screen.

She had perfect faith in him that he could. Which is why she relaxed and enjoyed feeling their fingers laced together. It was about forty five minutes into the movie though that she brought his hand up to rub her cheek against it. It was an absent minded thing, something she was just used to doing when she wanted to scent something, or someone. And Madock's hand was the closest body part to her at the moment, and they were already touching. Besides, she liked the way his skin felt... soft, but calloused and rough in some areas from his sport. She liked that kind of contrast between their skin.

Madock didn't mind the feel of her cheek against his hand, but it did catch his attention. Much like the usher doing walk-throughs had about fifteen minutes previous. Or the way that little flickering bulb lighting the path to the seats had a few minutes before that. His eyes flicked over to the girl and he gave her a smile in the dimness of the theater. Her face was soft against his hand and it was nice. Like a velvety feeling. Smooth. Completely opposite of his practically. "Keep doing that and I'm really going to get distracted." he whispered.

Blinking, Jessalyn looked up at him with a bit of confusion before she realized what he was saying... or rather, what she was doing. Oops. Jessalyn smiled, though she felt her body flush with embarrassment, and pulled his hand from her cheek. "Sorry," she whispered back. "Just a weird habit... " She brought his hand to her lips to kiss it quickly. "I guess maybe I get distracted sometimes too."

It was then that he raised his brow. "Weird habit?" he questioned. "And you don't have to be sorry..." he assured her. "Felt nice, just got my attention." He couldn't help but wonder now if it was rubbing her face against things that was the 'weird habit' she suggested.

She nodded, though she didn't really respond. It was hard to explain your strange quirks when there was a loud movie happening in front of you and other people to think about. Plus, it was usually a quirk that people found really bizarre, and she didn't want to have Madock feel the same. Jessalyn shifted in her seat to rest her head against Madock's shoulder, mentally reminding herself not to start scenting his hoodie.

He resisted the urge to prod her for details. Acknowledging the fact that there were other people and a movie and all of that to think about. Mentally he made a note to ask her about it later, but that was probably about the equivalent of writing something in the sand close to the ocean's waves. By the time he got out of the movie, he wouldn't even remember her doing it, let alone ask about it. Her shifting though, completely obliterated the though of asking about it, he moved his hand away from hers and slid his arm around her shoulder, leaning his head against the top of hers as he tried to concentrate on the movie. It was a little hard to do so when she smelled so good and was so close and warm, but he managed. Sort of.

A few times she caught herself when the material of his hoodie began to slide against her cheek, and she managed to stop before she got too into it and moved up to his neck and ear. That might have been a strange situation to be in. Jessalyn knew she could at least pretend to be normal! She had been pretty good at it, but the more she was with him, the more comfortable she got and it was harder to hide her... well, animal instincts. So she sat there, barely watching the movie, and instead concentrating on committing his scent to her memory. By the time she was done, Jessalyn was pretty sure she could be able to find him anywhere in school, or maybe even anywhere in town, the way she could Ransom. Maybe. Toward the end of the movie, Jessalyn was totally and completely focused on Madock. She wouldn't have been able to answer one question about the movie, other than what it was called at that point.

Madock probably couldn't have answered a single question on the movie either. He'd noticed her smelling him once, but he didn't think it was weird. It actually had him a little self-conscious, hoping she was smelling him because he smelled good and not because he didn't spray on enough cologne. He was fairly certain he didn't stink and it was too cold to sweat, so he didn't worry too much about it. The end of the movie came and the credits started rolling, people were filing out of the theater, well not really filing, more like ambling becuase there weren't that many people to begin with. "So... we've done the movie thing." he smiled. "What time do you have to be home?" It was still early yet, and it was Saturday night and Madock wasn't really ready to go home yet.

She smiled at him and reached for his hand again. "I don't have to be home until midnight. Do you want to get something to eat? Or go somewhere?" It was too bad Marquette didn't have like, a set make out point for teenagers. Which Jessalyn realized was a sort of weird thought, and maybe not entirely appropriate, but oh well. She rarely worried about being appropriate. "What time do you have to be home?" He had the ginormous family, so maybe they were more strict on when their kids came and went.

"Whenever I get home." he shrugged. "Um.. we could get something to eat if you're hungry." he told her. "We could get a burger or something, go out to the lake shore... or the park or something and park..." he smiled. "Or eat inside, or go to a restaurant or really whatever you wanna do, I'm kinda grasping at straws." he admitted.

Grinning, she slipped her arms around him and pulled him close to her. She had to look up, since he was taller than she was, but she didn't mind it at all. "You're doing fine," she assured him. "But what do you really feel like doing? Don't worry so much about my preferences... I want to know what you want to do." She wouldn't mind going to the lakeshore... it was her favorite place in the world, after all. But she didn't want him to go and get bored, or get cold if they decided to exit his van while they were there. In actuality, she just wanted to go wherever he was.

"I'm okay with anything." he told her. "We could just grab something and go to the lake shore. Eat in the van... go for a walk if you're positive you're not going to like... freeze." he told her, still worrying about those bare legs of hers. "Either way we should probably get outta here so they can clean the theater." he smiled, leaning in to press a soft kiss against her lips. "So, pick up some food, eat and head to the lakeshore?"

"Sounds perfect," Jessalyn said, walking with him from the auditorium. "I like walking on the lakeshore at night... the water is really pretty and there's hardly anyone ever there." It was so much more fun when she could shift, but she couldn't do that with Madock around. Yet. "Don't worry about my legs." She laughed and squeezed his hand. "I promise, if I get too cold doing anything, I'll tell you."

"Alright." he said, feeling pretty confident that she would in fact tell him if she got cold. So that's what they did, headed for the lakeshore, stopping at a restaurant on the way to pick up a couple burgers, which they ate in the van as planned. He'd deliberately not gotten onions on his just in case they kissed again. Which hopefully they would. He even managed to sneak in a couple mints to keep from tasting like a cheeseburger. Yeah, gross. Then it was time for a walk and walk they did, his arm around her shoulder, almost protectively because friendly ghosts or not, he was still wary of them. "So you walk around here at night a lot?" he questioned.

"Sometimes! When crazy stuff isn't going on in town. I know it sounds dangerous now, walking around here by myself at night time, but it's really not that bad. Marquette used to be kind of quiet. There wasn't so much weird, you know?" She could generally hear someone coming with enough time to hide, or leave. She was always aware of her surroundings, which helped. "I just think it's really pretty at night. I like to swim sometimes too, when it's summer time." When no one was around, and the water was so warm. "I just think most things are more fun in the dark... as weird as that sounds."

"Well the dark can be fun." he smiled. "I tend to like the night time better than the day time." he admitted. "And it is pretty..." he added, glancing down at the girl, obviously talking about her being pretty and not their surroundings.

Jessalyn smiled up at him, quite liking the way he held her against him. He was so warm, and solid. He probably had a lot of energy... and worked out. She tried to imagine what he might look like without clothes, which made her even warmer. She shouldn't be thinking about that! She'd already talked about it with Ransom... that wondering if it was their instinct to find a mate that made them so attracted to certain people. Maybe it was, maybe not. She really thought it was just him that had her drawn to him and not her own tendencies. "I'm a little cold," Jessalyn said slyly, turning to step in front of him and slip both arms around him again. "Maybe you could warm me up? How's that for cheesy?" She grinned, thinking it was the best way to ask for him to kiss her.

He smirked at her. "Somehow I don't think you're all that cold." he teased, leaning in to press his lips lightly against hers. "But how's that for some heat?" he whispered against her lips. Warming her up was definitely something he could do if she wanted it. So when she had her arms wrapped around him, his own traveled around her body, pulling her tight against him.

"It's good," Jessalyn replied, feeling much warmer now that they were pressed up against one another. She nuzzled his nose with hers before she smiled against his lips. "But I think you could do better." And then she kissed him again, something deeper than the light kisses they'd shared previously that evening. She felt right, being out in nature and kissing him. She suddenly wanted to tell him everything about who and what she was, but she knew she couldn't. A third date didn't mean everlasting love, nor did it mean he would take it well that the girl he was 'dating' was a werewolf. Still... somehow she knew he might be okay with it. She just couldn't take that chance yet.

"Mmm..." he murmured against her lips, his hands sliding to rest at her lower back, beneath her jacket but above her shirt. So close to just lifting that shirt enough to rest against skin, but he didn't. He controlled himself. And just like her, he was having thoughts about telling her about him. About his family, but at the same time, like her, he was having the second thoughts about whether that was a good idea. Whether she'd understand it or not. He wasn't so sure, so he didn't say anything at all. Right now he could focus on kissing. Kissing was good and despite the cold he was feeling warm all over.

She was definitely of the mind that kissing was so much better than talking. Certain revelations could wait until she knew what this was, or might be. Maybe it would turn out to be nothing at all, she just didn't know. Jessalyn's fingers pressed into his back and she held him close before falling back on her heels again and smiling up at him. "I think I'm warm enough to finish the walk now... " And her lips were so pleasantly tingly! Among other areas.

He smiled. "Alright. Just lemme know if you need some more heat. I'll be glad to be your space heater, baby." he grinned, fingers wrapping around hers once more as they started walking again. "So what else do you like to do?" he questioned. "You sew and knit and walk around at night." he said. "Course, if you wanna walk around at night now, you can call me, ya know..." Was it wrong to feel protective of her already? To want to be sure she was safe if she went out? Whether it was or not, Madock was still feeling that protectiveness.

"You're the best looking space heater I've ever seen," Jessalyn said with a soft laugh. And she was definitely feeling overheated which was ten kinds of awesome. "I think I'll call you the next time I want to go walking at night. I'm finding it's much nicer with company." Specifically his. "I like to do a lot of things... I like helping people. I like listening to music in my bedroom, and writing in my journals." She liked to steal things too, though that wasn't something she shared with anyone. "I like uhm, mini-golf! And swimming. What about you?"

"You write in journals?" he questioned. "Anything about me in those journals yet?" He didn't much give her time to answer that question before taking off down the line of things he liked to do. "Um... I like to read and I like to go to parties and stuff. Football obviously... Um... hanging out with friends, drinking sometimes, not a lot though... well, maybe a lot but I don't get like piss drunk and crazy." he smiled. "At least I don't think I do. Course my version of crazy and yours is probably different.. I don't like drive when I've been drinking or anything though." And why could he seem to bring up the parts of his personality that could be turned bad? God you're dumb.

"What do you think I was doing when you tripped over me?" Jessalyn asked with a grin. "Your name is in one of them... you watched me do it. That doesn't mean that it's the only mention of you though." She left it at that, just so he could wonder what she had written about him. She squeezed his hand gently. "You seem like the responsible type. I drink occasionally too... mostly at parties. Actually, only at parties. I don't hold my liquor very well." She wrinkled her nose at a few particular hazy memories. "What kind of books do you like to read?"

"I like all kinds of books like.. Wait, so you've written more than just my name in those journals?" he questioned. "What've you written?" Madock questioned, eyebrow slightly raised. He was more than a little curious about what she might have written about him. Was it good stuff? Bad stuff? 'God he's such a total loser' stuff? He doubted the last, but still was curious and maybe a little terrified that it was something bad.

"Madock, it's my journal!" Jessalyn laughed and shook her head. He was adorable, really. "I'm not going to tell you what I wrote! It's all good stuff though," she promised. "Nothing bad! If I had bad things to write about you, I wouldn't be out with you tonight, silly." She shook her hair from her face and looked up at him again. "Now, you like all kinds of books like... what?"

Well, that was a weight off of his shoulders. Even if there wasn't that much of a weight to begin with. He smiled. "I like Stephen King stuff." he told her. There's tons of those. Mostly like horror or science fiction stuff or like... both." he said. "None of those 'God what a fag he's reading a love story' kinda books. Only cool stuff." he grinned.

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with love stories," Jessalyn protested. "Romeo and Juliet? Pride and Prejudice? Wuthering Heights? Then again, I don't know many boys who read those unless they're in school and they have to. But I've read a couple Stephen King books before. They scared me... I couldn't sleep after reading Salem's Lot." She grinned, because she remembered she ended up sleeping in her sister's room because she had a night light. Very pathetic.

"Aww." he smiled. "That book was bad ass." And it was, he'd liked it, but at the same time, she was a girl and he was a boy and boys and girls didn't always agree on things. "And yeah, I've read Romeo and Juliet and Pride and Prejudice." he told her. But only because I had to and it was for school." he noted. "They were okay. Not terribly interesting for me is all. If I wanted a love story, I'd rather make my own love story, yeah?"

"The book was scary," Jessalyn corrected. "But I did finish it! I got halfway through The Shining before I had to hide it under my bed. I think it might still be there." With her bookmark still stuck between the pages. And covered in dust, probably. "I wouldn't imagine girly stories would be very interesting for boys. And as long as your own love story doesn't include suicide or denying your one true love because of social status and obligation, then I am totally rooting for you." She smiled again and squeezed his hand. Both Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights had depressed her after she'd finished them. That didn't mean that she didn't love the stories. She just didn't want that for herself... or him, for that matter.

"Well, I'm hoping that none of that happens in my love story." he smiled. "It'd suck for my chick to randomly put herself to sleep and then me kill myself. I think I'd be smart enough to wait around and make sure she was dead before I went off and offed myself though. And social obligation..." he shrugged. "Yeah, that'd just suck." Just like arranged marriages, but he couldn't really tell her about that. Part of him wanted to, but at the same time, he was afraid it would freak her out. Sometimes he felt he owed it to the girls he dated. Let them know ahead of time, but thus far he'd told no girl he'd been interested in. But he'd never clicked with someone like Jessalyn either.

"Juliet's fake death wasn't random." She stuck her tongue out at Madock, but it was all in good fun. She was just defending her own love stories, after all! "I've never really thought about my own love story, though. I think I've been wrapped up in reading about other peoples." Her love story would be pretty cut and dry. Wolves mated for life... once they found their mate. It was a comforting thought, but scary at the same time. "I bet your love story would be more like a romantic comedy than a tragedy. I don't see many tragic attributes in you, so that's a good thing."

"Yeah, jocks don't usually end up being all tragic. I'm a little too goofy to be tragic." he grinned. "And yeah, I guess teenagers usually don't think about love stories." he agreed. "I'm just weird. I dunno." He did know. He fantasized about a love story that would never happen. He might end up caring for the girl he ended up with, but he doubted he'd ever really love her. He doubted that he'd be able to love someone he was forced to be with.

She shook her head, disagreeing. "You're too smart to be tragic," Jessalyn pointed out. "You're too charming, and intelligent and funny. I think some teenagers do... okay, well I think girls do. I know girls do. Girls I've talked to in school, or have overheard. Every boy they go out with, or meet, they love. And they gush about them and all of that. And then the next week, they're with some new boy, or crying over the one who broke up with them. I think when your hormones are raging, you want a love story of your own but is it really a love story?" Jessalyn twitched her lips to the side before glancing at Madock again. "I've overanalyzing! I think it really depends on how you define your own love story, and what you expect from it. Is that weird?"

He listened as she spoke and nodded when she finished. "Well guys don't usually think about it at all." he said, rolling his eyes. "Locker room talk is really shitty to be honest. I mean those girls that think they're in love? They put out and the guys talk shit about them and about who's easy and who you have to 'work for' and stupid shit like that. And it's shitty of me, but I listen to it. Pretend I care. Pretend that it's interesting and that I might give a damn about what they're putting out there. So yeah... you overanalyzing? No, totally not. I do. I overanalyze everything. Though I'm not sure what locker room talk has to do with it." he sighed. "I have no idea what I was going for there. Maybe I was just trying to say that I'm not a dick? Or something, hell I don't know. I wouldn't want a girl crying over me for breaking up with them but I wouldn't want a girl thinking she's in love with me when she's not."

"I think the locker room talk just shows the difference between boys and girls our age." She shrugged, since it made perfect sense to her. "Though I wonder how many of those guys are talking like that because they feel they have to? Like, they have an image to uphold or something... maybe they do care? I know you're not a dick... I've met dicks before," Jessalyn said. "I can usually tell if someone's not genuine, but you are." Which was why she liked him so much in the few days she'd known him. "And sometimes you can't really help it if a girl cries over you, whether you're breaking up with her or not. I don't think I've ever cried over a boy before though. I don't know if that makes me weird, or not. Maybe I'm just lagging behind all the other girls my age."

He nodded, glad she understood him. "Well, if I ever do something that makes you want to cry, lemme know so I can like kick myself for it, deal?" he smiled, giving her fingers a little squeeze. "And I don't know, I guess guys just feel like they have to not give a shit to be cool. I mean I've never went around bragging about a girl putting out, but there are reasons for that, but still even if I was having sex I wouldn't, just so you know."

She nodded and smiled up at him. She doubted he would make her cry. He was just too nice to do that. And Jessalyn rarely cried as it is, preferring to try and remain optimistic about things rather than giving into sadness. Maybe it wasn't healthy, but it worked for her. "You don't have to convince me that you're a good guy, Madock. I know you are. I know you wouldn't talk badly about girls, and I know you wouldn't brag about having sex with one, if you were. I mean, at least not to a room full of jerky boys." Jessalyn paused and then laughed. "I wouldn't either! Brag about... er, that. Just so you know."

He smiled and nodded. "Well, I will admit that I might brag a little." he told her, leaning in to press his lips against hers for a short moment. "Like about how pretty this girl I'm kinda sorta dating is. And how much they're missing out on."

"Oh, I'm sure," Jessalyn said, giggling. "And then you tell them who it is, and then they think you're crazy. But that's okay because I've already sort of bragged too... though I don't have a bunch of girls to brag too." It was really just Ransom and Isabelle so far. Speaking of girlfriends in a non-girly way... "Oh! By the way... would you be opposed to meeting Ransom at lunch on Monday? He kind of wants to meet you and I want you to meet him."

Madock blinked, a little surprised that she'd bragged about him. He didn't really think he was something to brag about. He was distracted all the time, rambled and embarrassed himself constantly, but it still made him feel good to know that she thought he was good enough to be bragged about. "Um.. sure." he smiled. "I wouldn't mind meeting him. I mean you've been friends with him for like... ever right?" he questioned.

"Pretty much my whole life." Jessalyn nodded. "We grew up together. He's really kind of like my brother more than anything now." That didn't mean she hadn't crushed on Ransom before. She had when she was really little and didn't know any better. "He knows all my secrets." Mostly. "And all my embarrassing stories too... but we have an agreement that I won't tell any of his in front of his girlfriend if he won't tell you any of mine. It's all about compromise," she teased.

"So... does that mean I'm in the running to be your boyfriend?" he questioned before he could filter through that sentence. She didn't want to tell Ransom's embarrassing stories in front of his girlfriend and he wouldn't in front of him, so... was that saying that maybe he was close to boyfriend material? He wasn't sure. Did people start the whole 'boyfriend/girlfriend' thing this soon? He wasn't really sure. He'd never gotten to like someone enough to want to have that title, but part of him really wanted that title with Jessalyn. Which was odd for him. Strange. Confusing. But still, good. Regardless, he still flushed at his own question.

"Uhm... I think so?" She wanted to say yes, although there was no one else in that particular running. But she didn't want to say yes, she wanted him to be her boyfriend, because they had only hung out three days and she didn't want to totally freak him out. "I mean, if you're up for the challenge? I've heard your the front runner and everything." Jessalyn grinned, but continued quickly. "I mean, you don't have too... it's not anything that you have to decide right now. It's only our second date and everything. You know, I'm fine if you just want to like, date casually or something for awhile too."

Now she was rambling and he felt a whole lot better about his own malfunctioning mouth. Before she could continue on with the fact that they could date casually for a while, he stopped walking and turned to look at her, a hand brushing across her cheek. "Hey..." he began softly, shaking his head a little. "I know it's like our second date or whatever, but I don't think there's much 'casual' about it because I don't really want to date anyone else. And maybe that's freaky or crazy or way too soon for you which I'd totally get, totally understand, 'kay? So if you wanna date casually, fine, cool." he smiled. "Just so long as I get to date you, it doesn't much matter to me." Or maybe it did, but he wasn't sure yet that he wanted to freak her out that much.

Her smile relaxed and felt much more comfortable on her face as he spoke. "I don't want to date anyone else either. Just you. It's not freaky or crazy or anything like that to me." It really wasn't. But then again, Jessalyn wasn't like the other girls in school who had a dating routine down. She never really dated, and she had never had a real boyfriend before, so to her, this was completely normal. She knew Ransom had never really dated before Charlotte either and now they were together and... maybe this was how it worked. They just had to wait for the right person. "I really like you, even if it's only been a couple days. I feel like I've known you longer? If that's not weird... it might be, I don't know. But it's true."

He smiled a little at her and nodded slightly. "Yeah, exactly." he agreed. "Like a lot longer than a couple of days, seriously." And he did. He felt like he'd been talking to her for weeks. Maybe months even. And he liked her a lot more than any other girl he'd ever been interested in. And some of those girls had called him their 'boyfriend'. Why not let a girl he actually liked call him that? Was there anything really wrong with it? No, he didn't think so. "Well... if you like me and I like you, which I obviously do... then who cares if it's only been a couple days, right? Some people just hit it off, yeah?"

"Yeah." She nodded, relieved that he felt the same way she had. It felt hard to explain, but it was like he was on the same page anyway. More than a little pleased at the entire thing, Jessalyn smiled and leaned up to kiss him again. She was definitely going to have to text Ransom when she got home, whether he was smooching Charlotte or not. It would be really nice to say she had a boyfriend. Especially one who was really cute... that was just a bonus. "If that's what you want, then it's definitely what I want because... yeah, I want it too."

He nodded. "Yeah. I want it." he told her, leaning in and pressing his lips to hers again, hands catching her waist and pulling her against him. She was soft beneath his fingertips and felt so small against him, but that contrast of height, weight, texture... it was all really awesome in his mind. Her lips against his just seemed to make that contrast even more awesome. He was surprised that he could concentrate enough to kiss her with all the things going through his brain.

Jessalyn brought her hands up to his shoulders, holding onto him as he kissed her. She felt really happy and warm, regardless of the weather around them. It was a new experience for her, having a boy she really liked like her back. Enough to want to be her boyfriend. If she could just hang out with him like they had been, then she had a feeling she was going to really like the whole thing. She couldn't wait to tell Ransom. She slid her hands up to his neck before cupping his face. Smiling against his lips, she pulled back a bit. "You're warm."

"You are too." he smiled, his fingers dipping beneath the fabric of her jacket, pressing lightly against the small of her back. And she was really warm. If anyone was a space heater for the other, it was more her for him.

"Well, see, I have my own private space heater," Jessalyn explained with a soft smile. "He's about... this tall, and blonde, and super cute. He comes in handy during nights like these." She slipped her arms around his waist again, rubbing her palms against the small of his back. She knew he might be warm now because they had been kissing, but he would get chilly again soon enough. "We can head back if you want."

He smiled again and shrugged a little, moving his hand away from her only long enough to check the time. "Well, we've got a while before midnight yet, Cinderella. I think I'm up for some more walking before your coach turns back into a pumpkin."

Her smile widened and she nodded. It was still strange in some ways that a guy like him would want to spend so much time with her. "I am too... up for more walking, I mean." She slipped away from him, but took his hand to keep him near while they walked. "I just don't want you to catch a cold because of me."

"I think I'll be just fine, Jess." he told her, fingers finding hers again as they picked up their walking. "Besides, even if I did catch cold, that's all the more excuse to get close to you again."

"You don't need an excuse," she said. He could get close to her anytime he wanted! Her eyes caught sight of a white, ghostly figure quite a distance away. It was... well, a ghost. It was strange still, to see them wandering around, almost like they belonged there now, even if they didn't. "How's your family handling the ghost thing?"

"Okay." he told her. "I mean, they think it's kinda freaky, but I think once everyone realized that they weren't here to like hurt us or whatever, they're just kinda... dealing with it." he shrugged. "What about your family? Guess you're parents aren't freaking out too much if they let you out tonight. he smiled.

"They're doing okay! I mean, my family kind of knew this stuff existed prior to it happening, so it wasn't a big shock. I think they're just wondering why it's happening and everything but... you know... they're dealing." They'd had a harder time dealing with the werewolf attacks than the ghosts. She thought about her run in with the cursed were while she had been with Ransom and the coyote. "Plus, I think my parents know I can take care of myself so they don't worry too much."

He stopped walking and looked at her a little confused and curious all at the same time. "They knew this stuff existed before?" he questioned. He knew that the attacks hadn't been just 'attacks'. People talked. Word got around and Breezy said they were werewolves. And he was a dreamweaver, he was sure things were different than they appeared. "Like what?" he questioned. He wondered what all they knew about. Wondered what types of things she already was aware of.

"Uhm, yes..." Jessalyn fell silent as she thought about the things she knew about, and how much she should say. What if he didn't know? What if he didn't know about anything other than ghosts? Jessalyn finally spoke again, as if she'd never fallen silent. "You know, ghosts and other... weird things? Like the attacks earlier were by werewolves... uhm, there were vampires here awhile ago too." She grimaced and glanced at him, expecting him to be looking at her like she was crazy. "Did you know about any of that stuff?"

Madock didn't look at her like she was crazy. He didn't know about the vampires, but he did know about the werewolves. Breezy'd been right. "Yes. The werewolves. I didn't see them myself, but I knew." he told her. "I didn't know about the vampires though. Anything else you know about?" he asked her, brows furrowed just slightly. He silently hoped she'd blurt that she knew about dreamweaving and that she was a dream weaver and that could explain her large family. And maybe she wore contacts or something. Yeah right. He wasn't that lucky and he knew it.

"They were... cursed werewolves. They don't have any control over themselves when it happens." Which made her think of that girl, Cassandra, and then Gabe. Jessalyn felt for them, as she couldn't imagine shifting into an animal and not knowing your dearest friend from your prey. "There are cursed wolves, and born ones... the born ones aren't dangerous unless threatened. Or they're big jerks." And she really had to stop being a werewolf encyclopedia as he hadn't asked. "Uhm! But, I know about some things... like, I know psychics exist, and elementals. I don't know about anything other than that though." She had read about certain things, but she'd never gotten anything confirmed that those particular things were true. Dreamweavers, however, were completely foreign to her.

She went into an in depth little explanation of werewolves and cursed ones, born ones as well and that had flares going off in his mind. "How do you know so much about werewolves?" he questioned, not sure if he was ready for that answer or not, but still wanting to know. He left the topic of other things off to the side for the moment. He wanted to know more about what she knew, why she knew it.

"I read a lot," Jessalyn explained. "Especially when there were rumors of werewolf attacks nearby, I wanted to know more." She was lying, and she hated lying since as a rule, Jessalyn tried not to do it. But she couldn't tell him she was a werewolf just yet. He'd just decided he wanted to be her boyfriend... she didn't want him dumping her already. "Besides, there's a lot more books on werewolves and vampires than anything else, except maybe ghosts, you know?"

"I read a lot too." he told her. "What books?" he questioned. He didn't want to accuse her of lying, but the way she seemed more defending born werewolves than anything was confusing. But still, maybe she was just reading a lot to find the information. He wasn't entirely sure, but if she was, he'd like to read those books too, see what he didn't know. "Maybe I could read them too." he smiled.

"Oh! You know..." Jessalyn's cheeks flushed a bit, despite her wide smile. "I don't really remember the titles? But I'm sure I could track them down and give them to you." She was sure Nevermore would have something on born werewolves, even if they weren't as well known as the cursed ones. "That store, Nevermore has a lot of really neat books about... well, just about every thing supernatural."

He looked at her like he didn't believe her, but he nodded either way. He couldn't expect her to tell him everything. He wasn't telling her everything. He'd be a hypocrite if he expected her to just come out and tell him everything she knew. "Okay." he said with a shrug, picking up their walking again. "Might have to check it out."

She could tell her didn't believe her, from the way he looked, and the way his heart was beating. She felt immensely guilty all of the sudden, though she knew she had reasons behind staying quiet. If she told him, what if he read up on werewolves and found out their strange quirks? And their mating habits? What if he thought she was a freak? Sighing, Jessalyn tried to find a balance between lying and being honest with him. "I have... a friend who's... a wolf. Born werewolf, I mean. That's how I know about them. It's not something that anyone really knows so... I'm sorry."

"A friend?" he questioned, stopping their walk again and looking at her, trying to read her for signs of lying though he found himself feeling a little guilty for doing so. "I don't expect you to tell me everything..." he told her, biting his lower lip. "I just don't want you to feel like you have to lie to me about something..." But he was lying too. Or not telling her the whole truth which felt just as bad.

"I'm not... I just don't..." And this is why she didn't lie, because she was bad at it. Jessalyn looked pained for a moment, even with the small smile she managed to maintain on her lips. She felt like maybe she should just tell him instead of getting herself in deeper and having him upset that she was lying. "I don't feel like I have to lie to you. Things are just weird, and I don't..." Erg! She shifted to her other foot and reached up to push her hair from her cheek again. "I'm... I'm a werewolf. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to try to lie it's just... a big thing, I think."

Madock's lips parted and though he wasn't really expecting her to say that he wasn't quite as surprised as he thought he maybe should have been. He tried not to look so shocked and closed his mouth as his eyes slid over her face, studying her. He wasn't sure what a werewolf looked like, but whatever he'd envisioned in his mind definitely hadn't looked anything like Jessalyn. He swallowed air and finally found his voice again. "You're a werewolf?" he questioned, tilting his head and trying to make sure his voice stayed even. He managed for the first two words but 'werewolf' came out a bit more highpitched, despite his quiet tone.

"Yes." She winced, and tugged a bit at the hem of her jean jacket. "Not a cursed one! Not that there's anything wrong with them, but... it's a family thing? Sort of. Really only my dad... and maybe the unborn babies, I don't know yet. Uhm." Well, crap. She always thought she would be much more eloquent about this stuff if she ever had to tell a boyfriend, or something. "I'm not evil or anything," Jessalyn was quick to assure him. "I don't bite people and things like that."

He frowned a little at her, the way she was tugging at her jacket. The nervousness in her voice as she spoke, trying to convince him that she wasn't bad. It was as if she were afraid of what he'd think, what he'd say, how he's feel about it. "Jessalyn..." he said softly, reaching down to catch her fingers and pull them away from her jacket. "I never said you were evil so you don't have to convince me..." he assured her. "I'm... I haven't exactly been completely honest with you either." he admitted. "I have a... family thing too. I'm not a werewolf though..."

It was her turn to look confused as she studied his face. He was something too? Or rather, his family, although she was aware it could be a multitude of things. "Okay," she said slowly before licking her dry lips. "What... what are you then?" She was nervous and excited to hear his answer, because if he was supernatural, that gave them something else to talk about! As long as it wasn't like, a family of demons anyway.

He bit his lower lip and tried to think of a way to put it that she might understand. She knew about werewolves and though she'd not mentioned it with the other things she knew about, maybe she did know about dreamweavers. So he let out a breath and let his eyes flick to hers. He knew her secret and she could trust it with him, he just hoped he could trust his with her. His family's with her. "I'm..." he said, leaving his family out of it for the moment. "A dreamweaver.." he told her.

"A dreamweaver?" Admittedly, she had never heard of Dreamweavers. But they sounded really romantic! "What is that? I've never heard of dreamweavers before. What do you do...?" She assumed he could weave dreams! But that seemed so... far out there, and yet nothing would really surprise her at this point.

"Well... I um... personally, I collect dreamstuff. The stuff that like... it's hard to explain." he smiled. "I um... I can collect the stuff it takes to make a dream." he told her. "Then it gets separated into like... different colors and stuff like that and then it can get woven into a dream on a loom." It sounded all bogus and crazy he was sure, but that was it. That's what it involved. "Weird, right?"

"I didn't even know that dreams had stuff," Jessalyn marveled. "It sounds complicated, but really... kind of cool!" She wove and knitted on looms all the time, so in her mind, it was something similar, only with dreams. How strange! And it definitely sounded romantic, just as she thought. "I think it sounds fascinating, actually... not weird at all! So you can create dreams for people? Or is it just for yourself?"

"For people." he told her. "I don't weave though. I meant like... get the dreamstuffs from things. Objects." he explained. "It's kind of confusing to explain it when you're trying to help someone understand when they've never heard of it before." he smiled. "But yeah. So now you know something about me and I know something about you... but... that's not really it and since I'm being honest I gotta tell you everything and after I tell you this other part... if you like... wanna break up and make this the shortest relationship ever, I understand..." he explained, "I just think you need to know before we get serious or whatever and with the rate we're going I doubt it'd take long to get serious. Not that your a slut or anything or whatever... but yeah.. umm..."

She was sure she could find a book on dreamweavers and read up on everything so she could better understand it. It did sound pretty interesting, especially since she had never heard of them before. Jessalyn watched him with a small smile, curious now as to this 'other part'. It sounded pretty ominous, but that didn't mean anything. She was sure whatever it was, she could handle it. It made her feel really warm inside when he thought that they could be serious, because she thought so too. "Okay? Well... I'm sure whatever it is, it'll be fine, right?" Maybe it was some kind of consequence or quirk from being a Dreamweaver. And she had her own quirks, so she knew she could be okay with whatever it was.

"Have you ever heard anyone talk about 'arranged marriages'?" he asked her, eyes on their hands linked between them instead of her face. "Like where your parents match you up with someone from another family and you just get married to this person and start a family? Well that's like... my family is like that. We're supposed to marry other people like us. Other dreamweavers. It's just this thing that we're supposed to do."

Arranged marriages? Yes, she had heard of those. Only, she had heard about them from books and movies, and from a time a very, very long time ago. Arranged marriages didn't happen anymore, did they? Except in maybe some religions or something. But he was telling her his family was like this and it just seemed... strange. And not in a good way. Yet, instead of feeling badly for herself, she found she felt badly for him. Having to marry someone you might not love? It sounded horrible. She tried to imagine herself mated to someone like that... no, she didn't think she could do it. "I'm sorry," Jessalyn said initially before pausing. "I mean! If... if you're accepting of your family's, er, tradition, than okay, but if you're sort of stuck in it... that's... I'm just sorry. It must be horrible." Oh, man, she wasn't responding the way she wanted. "So what does that mean? Like, you have to get married to whoever your parents chose when you turn twenty five? Or thirty or something?" It was easier to ask questions than to stop and think about what this actually meant.

He shook his head. "No, not when I'm twenty-five.." he told her. "I'd probably be married already if I wasn't a boy and didn't argue about wanting to finish school first. I wouldn't doubt they have someone lined up for me the day I graduate." he explained. "And no, I'm not exactly... accepting of it..." he told her. "I don't really want to marry someone I'm not in love with. Someone I haven't met, but I'm not really sure what else I can do... I don't want to get married. I don't want my family to move away again and leave me here with some girl I don't love. Expecting me to be the man of the house, have kids, provide..." And there it was, that huge welling fear bubbling up inside of him like a tidal wave along the shore getting ready to crash against the sand and rip everything away.

"So you have to get married once you finish school?" Jessalyn asked, shocked. Her smile faded almost immediately at realizing he was a senior, and was about seven months away from graduation. He couldn't marry her, not that she even had that in her head at all prior to this. But that also meant she couldn't even... she thought maybe he would be the one, but he couldn't be. Not if his parents already had someone for him to marry. What if she fell in love with him? Even if she was seventeen, and he would graduate before her, even if there wasn't marriage in their future, what happened if she slept with him and loved him and then wanted him for the rest of her life? That would... really suck. Jessalyn shifted her gaze away from him, biting the inside of her cheek to keep emotions at bay. She wasn't used to feeling bad, and it was a feeling she didn't like. "Can't you... I mean, can't you just make your own decision? Can't you tell them you don't want to get married?"

Madock let out a little sigh and moved his hand up to brush across the girl's cheek, bringing her face to an angle where she had to look at him or close her eyes to avoid it. "I wish that it was that simple." he told her. "But it's not. It's this thing that I'm expected to do. This predetermined thing that just is supposed to happen for me and it fucking sucks and I want to pick my own wife. I want to be in love with someone and marry them because of that. I don't want to disappoint my parents, I don't want them to find me ungrateful, but at the same time I just don't want to get married to some chick that I might maybe get to meet once..."

It felt simple to her to just say no. But then again, she didn't have parents who were intending to marry her off a foot out of high school because of family tradition. Or dreamweaver tradition, whatever it was. "What if you do fall in love with someone?" she asked, looking at him now because she didn't think she could close her eyes to avoid it. "What then? You just have to... ignore that and marry some other girl? That just doesn't seem right. Why would your parents want to do that to you? No one does arranged marriages anymore... I don't... they should want you to be happy." She couldn't really understand it. Things were always suppose to work out when it came to love, right? Only, they didn't always. Unhappy endings only happened in tragic love stories. He shouldn't have an unhappy ending.

"I don't think it's about trying to make me unhappy..." he told her, brushing his thumb over her cheek. "It's about keeping up traditions... about staying with your own kind. I mean... sometimes guys... like male dreamweavers will marry a human girl or whatever, but it's all really complicated. Usually it doesn't happen like that... it's just not how it works in my family. My sister... she was supposed to get married already, but they let her wait til the summer. I don't think she's wanting that to happen either. I just... it's complicated." he told her. "I don't really want to think about it. I wish I could just say no or leave, but at the same time I don't want to displease them either. It's just really... shitty." he sighed.

"But that's so wrong," she blurted out. "Staying with your own kind? I don't... that just seems like the wrong kind of thing to teach your kids." She could never imagine her mom telling her to only hang out with other werewolves... that she couldn't make with anyone but a werewolf. Jessalyn's brows were furrowed together as she tried to work it out in her head. Or find a loophole. "So even if we like, dated until the end of the school year, that would be it? Then you would leave to get married, just like that?"

He bit his bottom lip and tried to think of an answer to that. He wanted to tell her no. that that wouldn't be it. That he wouldn't leave her if he dated her that long. If he fell for her. But at the same time, he couldn't tell her that. It wasn't entirely true. It probably would be the end of it. The end of the year. Graduation. Marriage. Impending doom on the horizon. "I don't know." he told her instead, hoping that the answer wouldn't have her dumping him as quickly as he thought it might. "I should have told you before I even said anything about being your boyfriend..." he said softly. "It's not fair to you, I mean, you've probably got tons of normal guys with normal dating habits... normal lives..." he frowned. It wasn't fair to do to her and he knew it. This was why he just didn't date.

"No, it's not... I mean, I'm glad you told me." Only she wasn't. She hated that he told her, even though she knew it was best that he had. "I don't have tons of normal guys with normal dating habits. I don't really ever date. No one really wants to date me," Jessalyn admitted, though it wasn't with any self pity. It was just fact. She was strange, and she'd been called 'odd' more than once in her life. Not many guys wanted to date an odd girl. "I really like you, Madock. Even knowing... but my..." She paused and tried to think of the best way to word things. "I know this will probably freak you out too... and I'll probably regret telling you but--" It seemed only fair. And maybe he wouldn't feel so bad about the whole thing. "-- wolves? We mate for life. I mean, when we find someone we love and you know... er, mate. It's a forever thing. Maybe that's why I don't date either, because I never know what's real and what's just my... my instincts."

Madock swallowed. He wasn't sure what to say to that. "But... what happens... what if I'm the one that you... that you're supposed to be with?" he questioned. "Do you just end up alone because I'm stuck with some random loom sitting girl?" he asked. And that threw the whole thing into a crazy different spin. What if she was meant to be with him and he couldn't be with her. Talk about a tragic love story. He never thought he'd be part of one and yet, before he even got to love a girl, he might already be in the middle of the most tragic one of all.

"I don't know. I've never really thought about it. I guess I've always just thought when I found the right person that would be it. There wouldn't be anything... like this." Jessalyn cleared her throat and then forced a small smile. "I mean, maybe we're overthinking things. We've just started... and we don't even know if this would become anything like that. Maybe we date for awhile and then just decide it doesn't work? Or... something. Graduation is a long time away, you know?" She looked down between them at their shoes. "I can just try... I won't fall in love with you, and you won't fall in love with me, that way it won't hurt if it has to end. You know?" It was a lousy plan, she knew, but she didn't think she could just accept that the thing was probably doomed before it had begun.

One hand reached up to catch her chin and he raised it so he could look at her. He shook his head a couple of times before he ever spoke a word. "You shouldn't have to try not to fall in love with someone." he told her. "And if you're meant to fall in love with me I wouldn't want you to purposely pretend that you're not or try to convince yourself that you're not. And if it's easier for you to just not talk to me or hang out with me or date me, I understand that, but don't date me and force your feelings down. It's not fair to you. Not fair to me." He was conflicted in more ways than one. The whole thing just made him feel completely aggravated and he didn't know what to say or do or think. "How bout we just see what happens..." he told her. "Forget about all the mating and marrying and just... see what happens..."

"Are you able to do that?" Jessalyn was doubtful that she could. She would probably think about it all the time, even if she didn't want to. Because he was already pretty much promised to marry someone else. Not that she ever even dreamed of him marrying her, but... it was like she was dating another woman's husband in a way. "I think the reasonable and best thing to do would be to just... be friends. But I don't really want that," she admitted, feeling frustrated now. "But I also don't want to be with you and maybe fall for you knowing that there's a time limit to everything. I just don't know what to do." She wanted to call Ransom. He would know what to do. He always knew.

"Well... I don't have a wife yet. A fiance even. They'll tell me when they find one and I don't... I don't want to end this before it even gets started.." he told her. Inside he was screaming and he wanted to talk to the ancestors. Maybe they could send him some sort of hope. Maybe just getting it out would make him feel better, he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure what to do but he knew he didn't want her to walk out of his life so quickly after walking in. "Maybe we should just be friends... but I don't want that either. I shouldn't have to stifle the feelings I have for you for some girl I don't know... I mean... I'm not saying I love you or anything because that'd be fucked up or whatever, I'm not even saying I will love you, but it's a possibility right? But I don't want to not see what happens and be wondering what might have had we stuck with it... And honestly, the ghosts could be the beginning of the end of the world. I might not even need to be worrying about this."

Well, when he put it like that, it just made perfect sense to her! And at that point she was willing to believe anything if it meant she could still be with him, even if it was for a short while. "Okay, yes, I agree with all of that," Jessalyn said quickly before launching herself in his arms to kiss him again. Because it felt like they had done enough talking for the moment, and she just wanted to touch and kiss and pretend like nothing else mattered. They didn't have to think about any of this now! Maybe if she started to really fall for him, or he for her, then they could talk about it again, but right now, it didn't matter. Like he said, it could be the end of all things, why waste it being apart because of something that may or may not happen?

A huge relief washed over Madock when she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his once more. It made him feel a lot better to know that, even if it was for a short time, she still wanted to be with him. He tilted his head just a little bit to kiss her a little better, the cold finally getting to him and causing him to pull her against him just a little tighter.

She tightened her hold on him, having no issue whatsoever with sharing her body's warmth. Things felt different, but not in a bad way. She could distract herself as much as possible from thinking about these things. Smiling against his lips, Jessalyn then nuzzled her nose against his. "Things don't have to be so bad," she said, allowing the eternal optimist inside of her to rise back to the surface. "I think they'll be okay... things will work out however they're meant to, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah... exactly. Just warn me if you rush out to buy the poison from the apothecary please." Madock grinned.

"I don't think you have to worry about that," Jessalyn promised, returning his grin with one of her own. She brushed her lips over his again. "We know what the deal is now, so there won't be anything unexpected... I think we can handle it just fine, no matter what happens."

Madock hoped she was right. Hell he was planning on asking the ancestors to help him. Help him figure out what was going on and how to handle it all. What he should do. But right now, doing nothing but being with Jessalyn seemed okay to him. And for right now, he wasn't going to worry. Yeah right, he would worry, but not so much about what she was thinking. "We know the deal." he agreed. "Whatever happens, happens."

"Good." Then they were on the same page at least. And she was determined not to let it bother her too much. She could be content with just spending time with him and not thinking about everything else. Jessalyn smiled, more than ready to forget their conversation. "Do you want to keep walking? Now that... that's out of the way?"

He shrugged, not wanting to wimp out, but realizing he was pretty cold. If he was, then damn, she should be. "I'm kinda... cold actually. Maybe we should start back. Are you cold?"

"We can head back," Jessalyn said with a nod. She smiled a bit sheepishly and shook her head. "I'm a little chilly but... I mean, I have a higher body temperature most of the time. I get cold, just not as cold as normal people, I guess." She pulled back and took his hand to lead him back to his car. She hadn't expected their date to go in this direction, and she was trying to figure out whether or not she was glad it had.

Madock was positive the second he got back to his house tonight, he'd be writing himself a letter to the ancestors. Asking for some sort of help with the confusion. He needed some guidance, that was for sure. His head was confused and his brain was going in all sorts of directions. He released her hand, but only so he could move his arm around her shoulder and pull her a bit closer to him. Tipping his head, he lightly kissed the top of hers, taking in the scent of her shampoo. How could ti be wrong when they clicked like they did? Maybe it wasn't. He hoped it wasn't. "I was seriously thinking you'd freak out a lot more..." he told her honestly. "About the whole... thing..."

"I guess I don't see what freaking out about it will do," Jessalyn said. She was sure she would probably freak out later, once she was alone. There was no doubt it would probably keep her up at night. "Like you said... I mean, we have time. We can just see what happens." And maybe she was still hoping for a loophole. Or maybe he'll find the strength to step up and say no to his parents. He deserved happiness on his own terms. Everyone did. It didn't matter if they were still together or not, she didn't want to know he would be unhappy. "I thought you might freak out a lot more too. About me, I mean."

He nodded. "Somehow I'm a little less freaked out about the wolfthing and the mating for life thing than I am about my impending wedding." he told her. "It's... okay, it's like if you mate for life, you mate for life with someone you love I'd assume. Someone that you just click with just that perfect way you know and..." For a moment he didn't talk, attention completely lost on his walking before he realized that maybe he should finish his sentence. "You end up with someone you love. I'd rather that happen than end up with someone you have to learn to love. And the wolf thing? Well, that's not really all that freaky." he assured her. "It's actually kinda cool in a odd way. Not that you're odd I mean... it's just not bad."

"I think I would rather mate with someone I loved than being forced into a long term commitment with someone I didn't." She just didn't understand that at all. Her mind, always full of optimism and romance, simply couldn't fathom it. She glanced up at him when he paused and smiled a bit to herself, knowing his mind was probably running away from him. Still, it felt nice when he said her being a wolf was cool, even if it was in an odd way. Because it was. "I can shift whenever I want to," she explained, feeling comfortable to say it now that he knew. "It's only on nights of the full moon that I have to change."

"So... do you like... look like a wolf?" he questioned. "Or like werewolves on the television. Like... half man half wolf.. Or more correctly half woman, half wolf." He was half tempted to ask her if he could see it, but he wasn't sure if she'd be ready for that question just yet.

"Oh! Well, there's three forms actually... this is one." She motioned to herself as is. "Then whenever I just want to change, I look like a wolf... like a regular one you would see in the woods or something. The night of the full moon, it's forces the change of the half man... er, half woman, half beast. I can't change at all on a new moon." Everything always revolved around the moon for her. "But I'm aware of myself, no matter when I change. I can look at you in wolf form and know who you are... I don't lose myself like cursed weres do."

"Cool. Don't have to worry about you eating me. That's nice. One less thing to worry about." he teased. "Not that I ever thought you'd eat me or whatever, but yeah."

Jessalyn giggled and nodded. "I won't eat you, I promise. That's my whole... er, sniffing thing." Her cheeks flushed, though she was grinning. "When I meet people, sometimes I sort of, smell them. It's really more of a scenting thing. I just have... well, what people might consider to be weird quirks, and I can't really explain why I have them without explaining everything. There's a lot of benefits to being what I am." She looked up at him curiously. "Do you... do your thing a lot? Dreamweaving?"

"Yeah." he nodded. "I pull dreamstuffs from lots of things. Books... cars... people sometimes, objects and stuff like that. It's in pretty much everything. And the smelling thing... I don't mind that, ya know. Just in case you were wondering. So long as I don't stink or something, I'm a-ok with you sniffing me."

She definitely needed to read something on Dreamweavers so she could understand it better. She had no clue those kind of things had dreamstuff. "You don't stink," she promised. "I like the way you smell... I mean, the cologne and everything is nice, but your natural scent beneath that is really earthy and fresh. I like it."

He smiled and nodded. "Well that definitely makes me feel better." he smiled. "Not stinking is good. So I'm guessing without cologne would be better then. Does it like bother you? Do you smell like... better than me. Like can you smell things easily or whatever?"

"You can wear anything you want. I like the way you smell regardless of whether you're wearing cologne. It doesn't bother me," she assured him. "I think I probably smell better than you, yeah. My senses are a bit more sharp than normal people. I can hear, and smell better. I can hear your heart beating," she informed him. "I can tell when your mood shifts because of the way your heart beat changes and stuff."

"Oh... wow..." he said, cheeks flushing just slightly. "So you like... know when I'm embarrassed and stuff?" he questioned.

"Uhm... yes. Sometimes. I mean, when you blush, and you sort of getting that nervous tic inside of you." She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "But I think most people can tell when someone else is embarrassed about something. But it's also how I know you're a sincere person. I can usually tell when people are lying, and you haven't lied to me."

"I don't have a reason to lie to you." he told her. "I mean... I didn't tell you about the dreamwalking stuff or the wedding stuff, but I didn't want to freak you out or scare you off or anything." Madock explained. "But I guess you understand that because you didn't tell me about the werewolf stuff so we're like... on the same page."

She nodded. "I know. Omitting certain details about yourself I don't really see as lying. I understand why you wouldn't want to tell me. I'm not mad about it or anything. I think that's why I like you so much, because you're honest with me. You didn't have to tell me about any of it, but you did... so thank you for that at least."

Madock smiled and nodded at her as they finally reached the van again. He opened the door for her and let her climb inside, but he didn't shut the door just yet. "Well... now there are pretty much no secrets between us." he told her. He'd leave out the ancestor worship for right now. A girl could only handle so much at a time right? "I like that. Not having secrets. Now I know I can talk to you about all kinds of stuff and not have to worry about it." he smiled.

"Yeah." Jessalyn smiled and nodded before reaching back for her seatbelt. They could talk now, without certain things being off limits. "I guess it's kind of like a silver lining to everything else, right?"

"Right." he agreed with a nod, catching her cheek with his fingertips and turning her head enough that he could kiss her. "A silver lining." he agreed. "Though... I think talking can be overrated..." he murmured, kissing her again. Yeah, talking was definitely overrated.

She would have to agree with him there. Because kissing seemed to make everything better. She reached out for him, her own hand running along his cheek and back into his hair. Even with everything they had talked about, this still made her feel really good.

His own hand slid up her side, starting where her body was bent in her seated position and sliding slowly upwards until it rested against her cheek. The worries were pushed to the back of his mind. For the moment being at least. Kissing seemed to have taken the driver's seat and that was fine for now. Worrying was best left done when he was alone.

Maybe they could just kiss each other all the time and never talk about any of that other stuff? That way they could both just feel really good and not worry about anything else. Wishful thinking, sure, but it was a nice little thought. She leaned into him, as much as she could without falling out of her seat. Jessalyn instinctively deepened their kiss, stroking her tongue slowly against his, wanting to feel that pleasant burning between her legs that always seemed to ignite whenever she kissed him that way.

Madock let out a little pleased noise against her lips, her tongue. That warm, wetness between their mouths. There may be the need for that pleasant burning she was going for with herself, but he was already getting that pleasant tension in his jeans. Just from a kiss. He couldn't help but wonder for a moment if he was a complete and total horn dog. Or maybe just a teenage boy with raging hormones and a hot girlfriend who was kissing him. And why the hell was he thinking about all this when he could be kissing her?

Jessalyn could sense the changes in his body, his elevated temperature, the quickening of his heart, and the rise of testosterone. It had her emitting a happy noise in her throat and she itched to get closer to him. It was amazing that just a kiss could do that to her. Only she had kissed other boys before, but none of those kisses made her feel so tingly.

He wanted to touch her more, but he was afraid to. Afraid to cross the wrong barriers. The cold was completely gone from his mind, replaced with all kinds of hormonal teen thoughts. His fingers slid down her side again and then back up again, resting with the heel of his hand just barely brushing the edge of her breast. That could be seen as an accident couldn't it? If she didn't want his hand there he could move it. She'd tell him.

She felt his hand on her side, felt exactly where it stopped on her body. She didn't feel that instinct to stop him, or brush it away. Instead arched into him again before pulling her lips from his long enough to suck in a breath. Her lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen, but it felt so good that she didn't care. Jessalyn gave Madock a small smile before leaning in to kiss him all over again. It was so easy to forget about her surroundings when he was touching her.

He stopped breathing when she pulled away from him. Held his breath and just looked at her wide-eyed, half expecting a verbal lashing for touching her. So afraid in fact that his hand trembled against her side. But then she smiled at him and leaned in and pressed her lips against his once more. He was relieved to say the least and he didn't move his hand from where it was at her side. He even moved it just slightly so more of his palm was pressed against the side of her breast. He was toeing the line to see how much he was allowed to do. Not that he really knew what he was doing. This was about as close to really touching a breast he'd ever been in his life.

Jessalyn just wanted to alleviate the tiny bit of nerves she could tell he was experiencing. She knew what he was doing with his hand, knew he was hesitant about it, but wanting to see how she would react, or what she would do. It wasn't as if she had big boobs or anything... being as thin as she was, it was a bit of a curse, but she wasn't flat chested either. She just hoped he didn't wish they were bigger and... why was she thinking about this again? Jessalyn's fingers ran through his hair slowly and she kissed him with equal patience, her tongue flicking against his even as she arched into his touch, wanting to encourage. The rational part of her brain was trying to tell her they should probably just stop before things got too heated, but thankfully her hormones were beating that rationale into submission.

He too was quite thankful for her hormones, at least for the moment as his hand shifted that slight bit more and pressed against her chest. His thumb sliding over the fabric of that slight curve. Palm lightly grasping the orb. Well that was fucking awesome. Somewhat like a water balloon only like way more fucking awesome because it was a boob! And he was freaking out in his head, waiting for her to freak out. His hand didn't stay against her chest for long before sliding back down again to brush across her side to her hip where it stayed. Then he was too busy hoping that he hadn't offended her with his pawing to do much of anything. Except kissing of course, he could still do that.

She wasn't really freaking out, because it felt nice, and natural and she liked him so she didn't really want him to stop. She wanted to touch him too, but that might lead to freaking out, especially since touching could lead to other things, and they couldn't do that right now. Jessalyn pulled back from his mouth again, gulping in a bit of air again. Everything was so warm inside of her that the chill outside actually felt good on her overheated skin. She didn't want to stop kissing him, but it was either take a break or pass out from lack of oxygen. She smiled at him, her hands sliding through his hair again.

Madock sucked in a breath of air, eyes catching hers and he smiled. His hand found it's way to her hair, lightly trailing through the strands and it was about then that he realized that his body was still outside of the van. So he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek and pulled away again, slowly shutting the door behind him and heading around the van to climb into the drivers seat. Once inside and out of the cold, he looked over at her and smiled. "Okay, so um... that's a lot better than thinking." he told her, lips rosy and slightly swollen from their kissing.

The few seconds she had between him shutting her door and then rounding the van climbing into the driver's side allowed her to take a few deep, calming breaths to get her heartbeat under control. She smiled at him when he got in and turned toward her, completely at ease and content with him now. "Definitely much better than thinking," Jessalyn agreed with a soft smile. "Thinking is entirely overrated."

"Very overrated." he agreed easily. Glancing down at his watch he frowned. "I should probably get you home a little early, keep up my good track record and not let your dad hate me." he smiled. He wanted to see if she'd like to hang out with him the following day, but he didn't want to jinx himself or push himself on her either for that matter. If she wanted to hang out, maybe she'd suggest it. And if not, he could probably call her sometime tomorrow. Not too early though. Then he'd just look desperate or clingy and that was the last thing he wanted her thinking. Those kinds of guys always got the boot.

"Okay... that's probably a good idea. It's never too early to win dad points, right?" Jessalyn nodded, and though she didn't want to go home, she knew she had to. She kept her hands in her lap and bit her lip before smiling. "If you wanted to call me or something tomorrow... that would be really nice, I think."

He smiled since she practically read his mind. Buckling himself in and cranking the van, he pulled away and headed towards the direction of the girl's house. "I think I'd like that." he told her. "Definitely. So expect a call from me, yeah?"

"Yes." Jessalyn smiled brightly, fully intending on keeping her phone with her at all times the next day. She was hoping that maybe once they started talking on the phone, they might decide to just hang out for awhile instead. She didn't want to suggest that though, and look desperate or something. She really didn't want to wear him out too early, or have him get sick of her. "Anytime is good..."

He nodded. "I'll call." he told her. "Promise. And I'll try to restrain myself from calling too early." he grinned. "But yeah, a call. Tomorrow." And hanging out maybe too. At least he hoped there would be. It was funny how similar their thoughts were even though they both seemed terrified to admit it. To sound desperate. They were really both on entirely the same page.

She giggled and nodded. "Too early is okay with me. I think if it were anyone else waking me up, I might be annoyed, but I doubt I would be if it were you." She realized now why people loved being in love. Not that she was in love! But the possibility of it, and that excitement from beginning some new was... intoxicating. She couldn't remember why she had never done it before. Probably because no one had ever clicked with her before like Madock did. That was it, she was just waiting for the right person. "I had fun tonight," she said sincerely. "Even with like... everything... I had fun."

"I had fun too, Cinderella." he smiled. "Now, I just gotta get you home and get myself home too before the stroke of midnight. Don't wanna be stuck sitting on top of a pumpkin with a bunch of rats tied to it." he teased, reaching over to take her hand and give it a little squeeze. Yeah, despite everything, the night had been pretty awesome, he had to admit. And if he was lucky, he might get another night just like it. Maybe.

She laughed and laced her fingers through his to hold. "I feel like I ought to leave a shoe in your van or something. Though I think it would look weird to walk inside my house with one shoe on." Plus it was cold outside! The ride home was of course, the shortest ride ever simply because she never wanted it to end. At least she was home before curfew, and she still had time to text Ransom since she doubted he was sleeping yet. Wolves, by nature, were nocturnal creatures.

He parked the van at the curb and got out, opening her door and helping her out of the vehicle and then leading her up the walkway to her front door. "Glad you had a good night." he told her, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear and giving her a little smile. "I'll text ya when I get home to say goodnight again, probably, but goodnight now anyways." He leaned down and gave her a little kiss on the cheek and then another on her lips and pulled back just slightly to smile at her. "Talk to you later, Jessa."

"Okay." She smiled and kissed him back, thinking that she might have a more permanent smile fixed upon her face from now on. Despite things. "Be careful going home." She wanted to say more, just to keep him there on her porch, but she couldn't think of anything that wouldn't be completely out of place. So instead, she reluctantly released his hand and turned to open her front door and let herself in. "'Night, Madock."

"Night." he told her, heading back down to his van and climbing in. Yeah today had been a good day, though maybe he should be freaking out a little more after finding out his girlfriend was a werewolf, but he wasn't really thinking about that at the moment. When he got home he probably would be and he'd need to talk to the ancestors, but for now, he was content to drive home with his lips still tingling and the smell of Jessalyn on him. Yeah, definitely a good night.