"No need to be sorry," he said and forked a piece of pasta into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, thinking as he did so. He rested his elbow on the table, the opposite arm of the hand holding his fork, and rested his chin on his palm. He frowned at the last bit of her sentence and pushed around his pasta for a moment. So she's not here for me; she's here to get away from something.

He figured that much out and he thought he should have been a bit happy about that, because he didn't want her hurt. But he was also a bit confused and more so hurt, so he looked down at his plate and tiredly took a bite of chicken. "Of all places, why here?" he asked carefully. "I'm not a good person to be around."

I started eating after Alex responded, feeling relieved that he didn't press on the embarressing subject. How did he learn to cook so well?
Probably being cooped up in this house for so long. Practice.
"... Why here?"
I gulped the chicken in my mouth, though it wasn't fully chewed up. I ignoring the small pain in my throat from such and looked up at Alex for only a moment.
One little white lie couldn't hurt...
Could it?
"I'm not a good person to be around."
I guess it could hurt, if you really thought about it.
"I... Understand that, Alex."
I started slowly, trying to buy more time to find a suitable answer.
"But I guess I wasn't in the... Right state of mind... When I was looking for a place to stay...?"
Great. I sounded like I was lieing, though this was sort of true. Sort of. No matter how crazy I might look, I was in the perfect state of mind. I purposely came to Alex; he just didn't have to know that small insignificant detail.

"Right," Alex said, though he winced a bit at the words. He loathed himself for thinking for an actual minute that she'd purposely came to him, even if it was under certain circumstances. He stayed quiet and pushed another bite of chicken in his mouth to preoccupy himself. He gulped and swallowed the chewed food, sighing as he did so.

You're free to go, I completely understand, sorry I turn into a wolf every night and am not good company? The different responses whirled through his head, but he only tightened his grip on the silver fork. He decided for a shift in topic instead, noting how she really wasn't interested in telling him why she came.

"Like the chicken?" he asked, though the question didn't have as much energy as it should had.

It was almost palpable how awkward it became within that long stretch of silence between us. Had I struck another cord? I've been trying to avoid doing that. Maybe I should just put duck tape on my mouth to do everyone I know a favor.
"Actually I was just thinking how good you made it."
I said purposely looking at him in the eyes and smiling to ease the tension. Though it was hard. Staring at his eyes were always hard.
"Do you like to cook? Or is it just a coincidence that this is the best chicken I've ever tasted?"
I asked with another smile - anything to ease this awkward tension - before taking another bite.

His ever-exhausted brain was trying to cope with the different emotions that were building up as she continued to talk. It was namely confusion because of her ernestness when she asked the questions. He wondered if she really meant to be nice or if she thought of him just as a crappy fallback plan. "I wasn't in the right...state of mind." He thought her previous words bitterly.

"I don't mind cooking. It's something I've gotten used to," he said before finishing off the last of his chicken. He forked a few pieces of pasta and swallowed those quickly before pushing his plate away from him. "You don't have to stay when you finish. I understand and should encourage it," he said and blinked. Had he meant to say should?

I had finished just after he took the last of his own pasta. Alex wasn't the helping the whole 'stop making things awkward' idea. Didn't he understand that I didn't want to leave? What signs were I giving him that showed that I did?
"Alex, I'm sorry if I'm being... Bothersome. I just didn't know where to go. You've showed me that I shouldn't stay here, and I know I shouldn't. But, I have nowhere else to go right now."
Especially if my mom stays overnight.
"Honestly, I don't want to leave. I care about how much danger I'm in, I'm not stupid, but..."
But I can't see you hurting me. I don't even know you and I trust you too much.
"But I can't go back home yet, so I'll risk dieing if I really have too. It's either this or the streets. I'm not going home."
I crossed my arms stubbornly as I leaned back in my chair, looking at him as  my jaw clenched.

Now he felt bad for making Paradise uncomfortable and feeling bad. He pushed himself from his chair, grabbing his plate along the way, and grabbed Paradise's. He disappeared in the kitchen for a few moments, aware that he was probably walking faster than the average human, and placed the plates in the sink. He returned to the dining room and slouched against the doorway for a moment.

He approached the back of her chair and hesitantly touched that one spot on her shoulder that he couldn't seem to stop touching. He liked his fingertips there, but he kept them there only a moment before he reached downward for her hand. "I'm sorry. I'm not very good at this. I just want you safe, but seeing as you're insistent on not leaving, I'll let it rest," for now.

"I'm glad you came," he admitted, but attempted to pull his hand from hers.

A long, blissful shiver went through me as his hand touched my shoulder; though it was his words that brought the reaction. That was definately something I wasn't suspecting.
Taking a deep breath as he grabbed my hand I finally found enough bravery to turn my head and look up at him. It wasn't that I was scared of him, par se. I was terrified of how I was feeling. I've never felt so pleasurably suffocated when I was touched. I vaguely remember squeezing his hand gently before he pulled his hand away.
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as he told me he was glad I came.
"You are?"
I asked, unbelieving.
 I had to admit, I wasn't fully surprised. He was alone all the time. Who wouldn't be feeling better, socializing with someone?
But, there was another part of me that was surprised at him actually glad to be with me. It was a good feeling. I scooted the chair back and got up from my seat, looking back at him.

[[Sorry this doesn't give you much too reply too. I didn't know what she could do D: ]]

"Mhm," he responded as he pushed his still warm hands into his pockets. He gestured with his chin toward another hallway off to their left. "Let me show you something," he said as he crossed the room and disappeared through the doorway, which opened up into the large family room. He crossed that and opened the sliding glass door of the back of the house.

The lake behind them was dark, ominous with the absence of the light of the moon, but Alex found it serene and beautiful in its own way. He stepped out onto the back porch and sat in one of the silver porch chairs at the back. He winced as he sat down on the shiny metal, the cool feel chilling his warm hands. A slight breeze kicked up and he leaned back in the chair.

At first I was worried that he was going to show me yet another reason why I shouldn't be here. But, I followed him anyways.
"Alright."
I finally said before following him through the doorway. My thoughts would have been bombarded with thinking about what he was going to do to me - show me, I mean. But they were too busy being in awe of the home as we walked to the porch outside the sliding door.
I followed him out the door and stared at the seen for a moment, not thinking to sit down.
The storm had stopped and left it a little misty in the air but that only made the scene more worth watching. I sat down in a porch chair next to Alex, my eyes never leaving the lake.
"It's beautiful."
I said, also leaning back.

"I miss being able to see it in the moonlight," he said, but kept his eyes on the water. He was surprised at how difficult he found it to keep his gaze off of Paradise's face. He frowned to himself, too confused with the different emotions that had been traveling through him lately. He'd grown too used to nothing, even loneliness had disappeared after a few years.

"But I guess I like having these nights," he said as he looked up to the sky; the moon's rays nowhere in sight.

[[I guess it's just something wrong with my computer. I'll try the banner link thing when v3 comes along and see if that helps. Thanks for making it though :))) ]]

I nodded my head, trying to imagine how it would look with the moon shining over it. Looking back at Alex, it dawned on me how calm he was. That image of him smiling at me came back to my head.
If he was such a monster, shouldn't he be acting aggressive right now? Shouldn't I be locked up in a room right now, waiting to be ripped to shreds?
I shuddered at the thought and quickly looked away; hoping he didn't notice.

"I bet you do. My house doesn't have much of a view like this. It's really... Shabby."
I said with a shrug. It was true. My family has never been anywhere near wealthy, since my mother left. That left my father taking care of two kids, having a job, and paying off all of the debt that my mother left for him to take care of - all to himself. Just thinking of her brought bitter thoughts to my head. They even went so low as to imagine Alex killing her.
I guess it really was possible to have hatred go so deep.

Ooc; Hmm. Let me try to put it in my sig. ._.

Bic;

She was emitting anger with the way she talked of her house, and the aftermath of silence that followed. He didn't dwell on it, instead grasped for a way to voice a question that would answer his trifling emotions. "Paradise, is it bad that I want you here?" he said. He needed to know if it was wrong of him to...to want her like he did, to want her company and like touching her on her shoulder, and possibly more. He shook his head. You know you can't do that. She'll get hurt. He winced and in that moment, really hated himself.

[[It's works~
Thanks! :) ]]

His question had caught me off guard. Was he saying that he did want me here?
I know this is stupid, but I smiled. I smiled. I liked the idea of him actually liking me around. I felt more... Special. I rarely felt that, and I bet he did too.
"I... I don't know. I didn't think you actually wanted me here, to be honest."
Well, he was saying how he felt. Why not say what I was feeling? I looked down at my hands and said more quietly,
"I lied to you before. I purposely came here this morning... I..."
I was really being vulnerable, telling him everything. But I couldn't help it. So I took a deep breath and kept going.
"I liked being here yesterday, so last night I had already planned on coming. I just found some luck and had an actual reason to come this morning. I would have come either way though."

Alex turned, shock taking hold of his face for a moment before a smile reached his lips. No, no, no, no. You can't do this, Alex. He pushed the dastardly thoughts away and let himself be content for one moment at the thought that someone actually wanted to be with him. He knew it probably wouldn't last and that made his smile falter.

"I'm glad," he responded, finding that was the only thing he could say without spilling all of his thoughts out to her. "You didn't have to be here for me, yet you have, still knowing what I am. I just--I can't promise your safety," he scooted his chair closer to hers so their knees were touching and he could clearly see her face.

Why did he keep saying that? Every time he told me how wrong it was for me to be here, I just wanted to scream at him at how wrong he was.
Sorry Alex, but wolves can be wrong too. And, you are so very wrong right now.
He felt so calm. He had no bloodlust in his eyes. For some reason, I just couldn't believe him when he said he could hurt me.
"I understand it's... Dangerous to be here, Alex."
I said, more of lieing. I still couldn't see him doing any harm to me. I smiled as he came closer, my cheeks crimson. I wish I could say it was because of the weather. Thank God it was dark out.
"So don't promise me my safety, because if anything happened to me, it would be my fault. Not yours. You have nothing to worry about when it comes to that."