Sighing quietly and closing his eyes for a split second, Ryuu wondered if he was really doing the right thing. He hoped that he wasn't committing suicide by doing all of this. For all he knew, Jannessa might become freaked out at the coldness of his skin. He opened his eyes and laughed, saying, "Sorry. My hands are always cold. Mom says I'm a human cooler." Smiling at Jannessa, he ever so gently pulled her from the porch so they could get on their way. It was only when the blonde didn't let go of his hand that he realized he might be in for it... because he didn't really seem to want to let go either. What have I gotten myself into!? "Alright," the gray-haired male chuckled. "Lead the way, m'lady." He winked at her and stuck his tongue out playfully.

Jannessa giggled slightly as she walked a bit ahead of Ryuu, her hand still wrapped around his. She led him down the left side of the sidewalk in front of her house. "So...where'd you move here from?" asked Jannessa she she slowed down so that they were walking side-by-side. She looked down at their hands.

Back in her last few relationships, Jannessa didn't get anywhere near hand-holding until it was made-known that they were together. But Jannessa and Ryuu weren't even a couple and yet they were holding hands. In a way, it made her feel more safe than she had been feeling in, like, forever. After about five minutes of walking, Jannessa turned onto a path surrounded by high trees. About two minutes on the path, a large park in the middle of a small-like forest showed up. Flowers were surrounding the paths with park benches here and there. Larger trees sat in between the flowers, the benches, and paths, providing various perfect places for just sitting and talking. It was a bit hard to feel happy there being that there was no sunlight and all the shade mixed with the cloudy sky-cover. Stormy wind blew gently through the air, rustling Jannessa's hair tied up in her pony tale.

Ryuu quietly took a deep breath in. He liked how the park felt -- silent and peaceful. There wasn't a lot of that in his hectic life, what with trying to escape from vampire hunters and convincing other vampires that his family wasn't a threat. This was... nice. And holding Jannessa's hand was also nice. Ryuu never held anyone's hand before this, especially not a human's hand. It was all a first for him, and it felt wonderful. Never in his entire life had he felt so safe. The spiky-haired male wondered if Jannessa felt the same way.
"I think this place is perfectly fine," he sighed, smiling peacefully. "Here..." Carefully, he pulled her over to a tree and sat down right under it, letting go of her hand for a split second. Then, he held his hand out to her again and asked, "Care to sit, too? Then, you can start ranting."

Jannnessa smiled and sat down beside Ryuu. Taking his hand back. She sat down more in front of him, facing him so that she could see who she was ranting to. She took her free hand and wrapped around the same hand her other hand was wrapped around. "When I was little, I was apart of the most happiest family you could find in this gloomy town. My mom and dad loved each other SO much. It made me happy just by seeing them love each other the way they used to. But then this past winter...my mom found out that my dad was having an affair with his co worker. She's twenty six years old and not even pretty. So whenever my parents weren't busy doing something, they'd be yelling, screaming, throwing things at each other." Jannessa's eyes were beginning to tear up as she shook her head and looked away.

"They don't pay attention anymore. You see, I used to be your average high school student. I wasn't on the cheer squad...nor was I eyed by the most popular guy in school. My mom used to be so proud of me because of how she told me to do my best and I never did worse. But when her and dad began fighting, she began to push me. She wanted me to do after school activities and she wanted me to work harder for my grades. It's been this way since my baby brother died two years after he was born," she said as she wiped away a tear.

Gentle patters of rain began to fall, not even touching the two with the tree cover. But she heard it clearly and in a way, it was so relaxing. She didn't even realize that her hands were slightly shaking and tightening their grip on his hand. "And then all of a sudden, I was the It girl in school. People wanted to talk to me, date me..." she just shook her head.

The gray-haired boy's eyes softened, and he felt how the blonde was trembling and squeezing his hand harder. She looked like she would burst into tears any second. That sight itself made even Ryuu's non-beating heart twist in agony. Affair... Pushing... That's... "That's too much for anyone to bear," he said out-loud accidentally. He'd already started, so he sighed and kept going. "Children shouldn't be dealing with things like that. It's painful and unnecessary. There's no one to blame in this situation; it just happened. Life isn't perfect, which sucks, but is the truth." Ryuu closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "I'm sorry that your brother died. I'm sorry that your parents are taking it out on you, as a result of that." He gently removed his hand from the blonde's tight grip, taking both her hands between his own instead. He felt like letting go would make her shatter into pieces. "On a completely separate note, being the IT girl isn't completely terrible. You meet new people easier; you learn things differently. But people stop caring about the real you. You get sucked into this disgusting world of gossip, backstabbing, and complete lunacy. Living in that world, because of your mom, is fine, but you need more moments like this to help you get through it. You need a few real friends that see you for what you are and not just the perfect hair, perfect whatever." Sighing, Ryuu looked up at the leaves that protected them from the drizzle that was beginning. What the hell is wrong with her parents....

Jannessa's bottom lip trembled as she was working with every strength she had to hold back her tears. Who was she to be crying in front of this...caring...unusual stranger...who was holding her hands to keep her from breaking all the more apart. "I hate being the It girl. People tend to be so envious of you that they spread unnecessary rumors and...I just don't want people to look down upon me like that. For all I care, I'd rather go back to being the invisible girl. Jamie says I should be thankful that I'm getting attention from all the 'hot boys'," Jannessa just sighed. "She doesn't understand."

The rain thickened slightly as thunder roared mildly in the foregrounds.

Ryuu's eyes widened as he watched her stop herself from crying. She has some great strength...
Without saying a word, Ryuu let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. If she was going to start crying, he'd be the one keeping her together. "It's... hard. I can tell. I don't know if there's a way to go back, but you should do whatever you want to do, and not what your mother wants. It's your life, thus it's your choice. Do what you want." He rubbed Jannessa's back gently, sighing. "Your friend really doesn't understand how hard it is. Hell, I probably don't get it too much, either, but that's because I like being in the shadows. Better to be invisible then act like someone you're not." Patting her head, Ryuu hoped that this could help the poor girl... somehow. Anything to make her feel better.

As soon as Ryuu wrapped his arms around Jannessa, the tears began to flood from her eyes like a constant-moving river. Her body shook with every sob as she listened to what he was saying. When she stopped crying, she sniffed and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "I'm quitting cheer leading. I'm going to stop wearing the ugly designer clothes my mom buys me and go back to wearing what I want..." she said with courage. She let out a short laugh. "If she saw me wearing this, she'd flip. She'd say 'those pants don't show off your legs' and 'that jacket is too big for you -- didn't I ever tell you that tee shirts are for junkies?' or something like that. It's annoying," Jannessa said.

She pulled away from Ryuu's arms and sighed. "Thank you...it means--" and with with that, thunder struck nearby and the rain thickened, breaking through the tree's leaves. She put her hood over her head and got up, outstretching her hand to Ryuu. "We'd better head home," she said with a happy and wet laugh.

Ryuu chuckled for a moment before bursting out laughing in hysterics. He bent over, clutching his stomach. When he regained his composure, he wiped away the tear that was rolling down his cheek. "Y-You! Have so much courage! I'm so sorry that I'm laughing!" The vampire rubbed his eyes a little. "I mean no offense, but when someone first looks at you, they mistake you for this cute little girl who follows directions. That's what I thought when I first saw you." Ryuu had finally calmed down and looked at Jannessa with soft eyes. "I was wrong, obviously. You're just about a million times deeper than that, and I think you've finally done what you've wanted to do for a long time." Slowly, Ryuu got up and stood in from of the blonde, patting her head gently. "As my mom would say... Watashi wa anata o hokori ni omoimasu!" Grinning, he translated, "I'm proud of you!"

Jannessa smiled brightly and laughed as she felt the rain begin to soak through her sweats and hair. All of a sudden, it felt as if she had always known Ryuu. Like he was her own personal best friend who knew every single layer of her life. It's as if he knew that she usually is, like, NEVER...full of courage. She laughed once more and said, "You know, when I first met you, I thought you were that type of person to hate everyone. Really, it's you who needs a true friend," she said as she reached down and grabbed his hand, pulling him from under the tree and into the rain. She slid out of her flip flops and grabbed them as she ran with Ryuu.

Ryuu gladly ran alongside Jannessa, laughing as he got dragged into the rain. He'd never been so care-free in his life -- he felt like he was 5 years old all over again! All of these feelings were new to him. The vampire had put down his shield and allowed this silly girl to walk right in. Of course, it's partially his fault since she was apparently too good to let go.
The two just ran around, getting more soaked every second. It was only when Ryuu grabbed the blonde around her waist and carried her back to the tree, out of the rain, that he realized it was probably best to go home. Laughing, he sat he down under the tree, kneeling in front of her. "Well! I've never had a friend before." He shrugged. "No one interested me. They were all shallow. Their minds did not run deep enough, nor did their emotions show anything but lies." The male shook his head at the thought. Then he smiled at Jannessa. "You're quite different. Anyway... Shall we go home? I don't know if you still want to take up my offer of coming to my house instead?" He reached out for her hand again, grinning brightly.

(It's probably kinda hard to read, so I changed up the text kinda with the help of your influence. xD )

She let out a playful yelp followed with loud laughing as she felt Ryuu grab her waist and dragged her back under the tree. "Well I'm glad to hear that I'm different. The last thing I'd want to know about myself is if I was actually uninteresting, shallow, and I had a not-deep-enough brain. But as for that lies and emotions part, I think it's understandable to know that that only applies to me around most people in school." Jannessa smiled and took his hand. "Anywhere would be better than at my house," she said.

((glad to know I helped XD))

Ryuu grinned and pulled Jannessa from the ground, intertwining their fingers. "Then, we've gotta run through the rain! Hayaku! Hurry!" Laughing, he ran put of the park with the blonde, getting pounded by the thunderstorm above them. Yet, it was all so refreshing -- laughing, playing -- it felt more real that the majority of this life. This is something he want going to let go any time soon.
By the time they made it to Ryuu's house, both were sopping wet with hair whipped all over their face. Leading Jan inside, Ryuu first yelled, "Okaa-san! Tadaima!" (meaning, "Mother! I'm home!"; the introduction used whenever someone of Japanese heritage enters their household, even when empty), then grabbed the towel that was on the chair next to the door and plopped it on the girl's head, rubbing her hair and face with it. "Don't want you to catch a cold, ne?"

She laughed hard as they ran down the streets. Her feet hit the cold, wet pavement as her clothing stuck to her. She had never done anything as exciting as this before.

Things felt completely different from the moment that Jannessa walked into Ryuu's house. It was if she felt a strong feeling for respect that she felt she had to keep in mind to show. Scared to do something disrespectful or anything such, she just smiled and nodded her head as she took over the task and dried her hair. It was as if she was suddenly scared to speak. But being right with Ryuu this moment made her relax.

Ryuu sensed her tension easily -- it came to him through her blood. He sighed, bringing his hand to his head. "Silly. Don't be afraid of being yourself in this house. First off, no one's here -- mom works for another hour, I think. I called out for her since she's usually around. And secondly, if my parents think you're being disrespectful, I'll just do something worse." He winked at the blonde, taking the towel and wiping off all the drops of water that hit her face after she dried her hair.
After her head was dry, he took her hand and led her upstairs. "If you want, you can dry off better in the bathroom and change your clothes. My sister has stuff that she outgrew which would fit you perfectly..." Swiftly, he went into his sister's room and rummaged through the closet, flinging out a J-rock band t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. "Is this okay..?" Ryuu asked, a quizzical look on his face.

Jannessa relaxed and gave Ryuu a thankful smile. She let him lead her up the stairs and to the hallway. Everything was perfectly decorated, making her feel like she was in some small part of a mansion. She took the clothes happily and flashed a large smile at Ryuu. "Thanks. This is perfect," she said as she eyed the opened bathroom door. She went to the bathroom and slid out of her soaked clothes, taking out her phone to find one missed call from her mother. Texting back, it said: im fine. il call u l8er. She slid into the dry and warm clothes and took out her pony tale. Her curls have surely fallen out by now, leaving her hair wet and wavy.

Walking into his room, Ryuu stripped everything off, replacing his jeans with a pair of sweatpants. He grabbed a towel and started to dry himself off, thinking about what's happened. I really... Let her in, eh? First human to walk straight into my life. He stared at his reflection in the mirror sadly, shoulders drooping. What have I done...? I'm a monster. I could hurt het... I could lose that little bit of control I have left. I want to get her out of here, yet I want her to stay. He bared his teeth, looking at the sharp fangs in the mirror, then closed his mouth tight. It doesn't help that I haven't hunted in a month. Damn it! Angrily, he threw the towel onto his desk and sat on the bed, still shirtless. For a moment though, he smiled at the thought that Jannessa was his friend. As long as it's like that, I'll never hurt her. Ryuu closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

When Jannessa heard movement, she peered in the doorway of Ryuu's room. Impressed with the maturity of his style of his room, she nodded her head and pursed her lips. "I must say. I'm impressed with you, Ryuu. Highly," she said as she smiled at him, ignoring the fact that he was shirtless...and had an amazing pack of carved abs. "So let's do something!" she said, suddenly ignoring the fact that she was tired and she would be up late thanks to her parents again.

Ryuu stared at the girl for a second, realizing that he was practically half naked, but still broke down into hysterics again, clutching his stomach. "How is it that you're not tired? My God, you're just full of energy, ne?" Getting a handle on himself, he chuckled and sat cross-legged on the bed. "I dunno what you want to do, but I highly suggest that you take a break for a second before you can't move tomorrow morning." Motioning to the bed with his hand, he said, "Please sit, Miss I-Still-Wanna-Do-Stuff." He stuck his tongue out and winked at her.

Jannessa chuckled and walked over to his bed, plopping down on it as if she had done so a thousand times before. She rested her head down on her arms and propped her legs up so that they were kicking in the air. "I'm the kind of girl who gets hyper when she hasn't had much sleep in how many days," she warned him as she lightly and playfully slapped his arm.

Ryuu exhaled softly, giving her a somewhat tormented look. "It's that bad, eh?" He shook his head, chuckling. "You're going to go nuts on me if you don't sleep tonight, you know." Gently, Ryuu patted her head, trying to coax her into at least yawning. That way, she'd have an incentive to rest, but it seemed like it might not be enough. She was exhausted all right, but the nights of staying up seemed to have rendered her unable to sleep properly. The spiky-haired male crossed his arms and looked at Jannessa determinedly. "Hn. If you don't sleep now, I might just have to sing to you. I've heard that it works for some people." He laughed softly. "Of course, I'm not sure you want me to do something idiotic like that." Grinning at the blonde, he poked her forehead playfully.

Jannessa smiled and laughed loudly, tipping to the side slightly. But when her phone went off and she looked down to see it her mom, she sighed. "Sadly, I'm afraid I need to be getting home. Thank you so much for talking with me," Jannessa said as she got up and hugged Ryuu. "I'm gonna go now, so I'll see you tomorrow," she said as she got up and grabbed her damp clothes, hurrying out the door as she opened her cell. "I'll be home in a few seconds," Jannessa said in a snappy voice as she slammed her cell phone shut.

When she got to her house, she opened the door and her mother stood by the stairs, her arms crossed across her chest. "Where were you? I've been trying to call you. And I thought you said you wanted to get a nap in? And why are you in...THOSE clothes?"

Without a word, Jannessa rolled her eyes, hurried to the kitchen to grab a burger off of the stove, and grabbed a can of soda, and hurried up to her room to locker herself away from the world. She blared up her favorite CD (Hawthorne Heights) and began her homework as she ate her supper.

When Jannessa hugged him, Ryuu wrapped his own arms around her waist before letting her go, calling out, "Come back any time you want!" as she skittered away. He really hoped that she would be okay tomorrow.
Quickly, Ryuu nearly flew downstairs to grab his bag, then shot back up to his room to start the homework that was already assigned. It was trivial stuff, and it bored Ryuu to pieces. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened today. I'm glad that she feels better... I really am. I've just made everything so hard on myself now. My family is going to kill me.
Suddenly, his parents and older sister came through the front door and instantly smelled the traces of a human. For the next two hours, they yelled at him about god knows what. All Ryuu did was roll his eyes and tune them out. Whatever they said made to difference to him. Jannessa... Was now a part of his life, and he was going to keep it that way.
Later that night, the vampire laid in bed, aimlessly staring at the ceiling. He couldn't sleep for some reason...

Once Jannessa had gotten her shower, skipped styling her hair to perfection, and slipped into two layered tank tops and camisoles and into her favorite pair of jeans. She slipped her feat into her old converse sneakers and grabbed her books as she headed down the stairs to the kitchen, prepared with what was to come. Her mother sat at the kitchen table, drinking black coffee and reading the newspaper as the small flat screen tv that sat on the kitchen wall played the news. Her mother looked up at Jannessa and nearly spit out her coffee she had been sipping on like an old lady.

"What in the world are you wearing!?" demanded her mother.

Jannessa sighed. "And what is with this attitude lately!?"

Jannessa grabbed an apple off of the kitchen island's basket of fruit. She bit into the apple angrily and turned to her mother. "I'm tired of living up to your expectations mom. Oh, and guess what? I'm quitting cheer leading. Not my thing."

"I-I thought cheer leading was your dream--"

"Your dream, mother. Not mine!" Jannessa cut in as she grabbed another apple and a carton of orange juice from the fridge and ran out the door to hide in school. Anyone but her mother.

Hearing a door slam, Ryuu bolted out of bed. Through his window, he could see Jannessa walking towards the school. It was already getting late and he worried about what kinds of people would be out at this time. But he couldn't just go up to her and be like, "Hey! I'm not stalking you or anything." Instead, Ryuu threw on a long black trenchcoat and a mask. These things... he hadn't wore them since leaving Japan. They were last used in a reconnaisance mission he had, and now he was going to use it to watch over a new friend. (what the mask looks like: http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/2540/heismaskbj8.jpg) Silently, but swiftly, he flew out his window and landed in a tree. All the way to school, Ryuu hopped from tree to tree and from shadow to shadow -- places where Jannessa couldn't see him. When they finally reached the school, Ryuu became even more tense because he saw that jerk, Brad. The one who tried to hook up with Jannessa. Ryuu clenched his fist so hard that it would bleed for a normal human.