✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

CHAPTER FIVE: CIGARETTES

AND SO THE CYCLE repeated. Jesse had a few more dates with Ms Cullen and was beginning to open up a small bit. He even lent her a few of his prized records, lucky lady.

Over the weeks, he managed to have enough money saved to get the truck fixed, so on the last Friday of school before the Christmas holidays, he walked down to the Rez to collect it. Esme had offered to pay for it, knowing Jesse didn't have a lot but he refused. He wasn't a charity case and could manage just fine without it.

The track down was bitter and cold, leaving Jesse to tighten his scarf around his neck as he shut the chipped door behind him.

"Oh wait, I need to lock it," Jesse muttered to himself but quickly broke into laughter at the thoughts of someone wanting to break into that kip.

Walking down the snow-covered road gave Jesse a chance to think. Esme was the best thing that ever happened to him, but he couldn't provide for her, give her the life she deserved. She could do so much better than him. Hell, he didn't even have a bedroom!

Almost at the reservation, Jesse shook his head to rid the thoughts, straightening up his jacket collar as he headed over to Billy Black's workshop.

"Billy? You in here?" Jesse called out, peeking his head into the shed.

"Round back Jesse!"

Stepping over a welder, crowbar, and a mini-fridge, Jesse followed the voice to the back of the shop. He found the pickup easily enough, but Billy was another problem. Where was he?

"Billy? I can't see you are you here-" Jesse jumped 3 feet in the air when he felt a hand grab his ankle.

Rolling out from under the truck, Billy was in heaps of laughter, clutching his stomach as Jesse scowled. Waiting patiently for him to finish, Jesse lightly punched his shoulder in retaliation.

"What the hell, man?! Nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Punching him back, Billy wiped the tears from his eyes," You-you, should've seen the look on your face!"

Rolling his eyes, Jesse threw up his hands," You got me good, Billy! So how's the truck?"

"Well, the heater was fried, so that has to be replaced. Brake pads needed work, but that engine definitely needs to be replaced," Billy delivered the bad news, throwing an oil rag over his shoulder.

"And how much will that cost?" Jesse asked naively.

"For the heater and brakes $160, but the engine, that'll be $1000-$2000,"

Jesse could've passed away there and then.

" Two thousand dollars?!"

"Well, you could get away with another year or two, but after that, you're asking for a death warrant," Billy reasoned, walking behind the counter to get the keys.

Sighing, Jesse pulled out his tattered wallet, even more, depressed when he realized he didn't have enough to pay him in full.

"I've only got a hundred now, but I'll have the rest by Friday if that's alright?" he asked, holding out the crumpled bills.

"No problem, but remember; I do know where you live,"

Both laughing at the bad pun, Jesse graciously took the keys and started up the truck, pulling out of the reservation and heading on back to Forks High School for his afternoon classes.

Monday classes were overall uninteresting. While getting his AP class to finish up their landscape assignment, Jesse lazily pulled out his own sketch pad and began to scribble some pencil strokes.

Getting into the drawing groove, Jesse put in more detail, hedgerows, birdbaths, and such. So lost in thought, the man didn't realize the final bell had rung and students began to file out of the room.

"Hey, Mr Blake?"

Looking up from the sketch, Jesse was surprised to see Alice in front of his desk, canvas in hand.

"Alice, how can I help you?"

"I've finished the final piece," she replied gleefully, handing him the painting.

Shaking his head, Jesse smiled as he examined the piece," I should've realized you'd be done, Speedy Gonzales."

Looking over the painting, Jesse was awe-struck. Every detail of the river's ripples was astonishing. From the spaciousness of the sky to the translucency of the water, it was like Jesse was right at the river's banks, looking in.

"Alice- it's amazing!"

His words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Alice was silent. Glancing over at her, Jesse was beyond confused, seeing the girl space out. It only lasted a few seconds but then she acted like it never happened. Freaky.

Finding himself free for the evening, Jesse picked up his things and headed for the door. Looking down at his sketch of a large townhouse, he crumpled it up and tossed it in the trash, where it belonged.

Once he was in the parking lot, he grabbed the cigarette box from his jean pocket and lit one up, taking a long, slow drag. Smoking was a bad habit he took up in The Sou, but it didn't harm anyone so he had the odd one now and then.

Just as he was about to take another puff of tobacco, a voice from beyond scared him like a cat in headlights," Smoking will kill you."

"What is up with people creeping up on me today? There some ritual you Northerner's do that I don't know about, give your local Southerner a heart attack?!" Jesse protested, throwing his hands in the air.

Esme was giggling like a schoolgirl at his reaction, leaving Jesse to take advantage of her blind spot and snatch her up and spin her around. She begged him to put her down through the laughter but Jesse was relentless, eventually dropping her back down.

"Jesse, there's something I- we need to tell you," Esme faced him with an uneasy look on her face," At our house."

Obediently nodding his head, Jesse followed her into her Volvo, unable to speak. Usually, when this happened Jesse, it never ended well. They sat in silence for the ride, and silence again when Esme brought him into the main room of her home.

"Esme, is everything all right, your acting kinda strange," Jesse questioned, rubbing the back of his neck when the entire Cullen Clan arrived in the living room.

"I, haven't told you the truth," Esme sighed, looking at me with doe eyes, "But I really like you Jesse, so, I guess I have to tell you, don't I?"

Jesse remained quiet as Esme continued, "My family and I- We're not normal."

"We're not human."

"What?" Jesse demanded, " What do you mean not human, yall superheroes or something? Related to Iron Man?!"

"Well, actually that's partially true," Carlisle pondered amusedly.

"Yall ain't making two cents at the moment" Jesse complained, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Naturally, your first instinct is going to doubt what I tell you," Esme began, " But just remember, we won't hurt you."

"My family and I are vampires, Jesse."

It took Jesse a moment to fully understand what she said, laughing to himself as a coping mechanism.

"So you're all garlic hating, burn in the sun, turn into bat vampires?" he asked nervously, not helping when they all burst into laughter.

"No, no, that's all myth. We're more like super-soldiers, designed to kill the enemy," Carlisle explained.

"And we're indestructible!" Emmett boasted from the back.

Not believing anything that was being said, Jesse decided to test it for himself, taking Carlisle off guard and punching him in the gut. Though the minute his fist made contact it was like hitting a brick wall at 100 miles.

Gawking down at his battered hand made it all real. They're all- She's a vampire.

What. The. Fuck.

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

1296 words

Author's note: I realise Christmas is well over but I'm determined to finish this

*The_lost_flower*