Cold [Tag Jasper]

Arianne laid on the mattress in her 'bedroom.' Her bed was on the ground, no stand to hold it up. She didn't mind, though. She didn't trust the frames as it was. They were old. She curled up into a small ball there on the bed and chewed her bottom lip as she laid there, looking ahead of herself at the wall. Her door was shut and everyone else was in bed. She had gone to bed early after Paris had to go.

She couldn't deny that she was happy to see her brother, no matter how short the time had been. But, after seeing Jasper there in the alley, that lonely feeling had set in once more. She needed him, not Paris. No matter how much she loved her brother, she loved Jasper more. He was the only thing in her life that kept her strong. To know she couldn't help him was the most painful part of it all.

She didn't stop herself when she started to cry softly. She simply held her sides a bit tighter and stared blankly. She had to keep strong -- she knew that. That didn't mean she wouldn't feel pain for missing him. For wanting to lay with him for just a few minutes. To feel his warmth instead of the cold, silent room. How this place was supposed to feel like a home, she wasn't sure.

Jasper walked around the house after Paris left. Arianne probably though he disappeared as well, how she only say him for a moment. He looked in the open windows, seeing all of his family and friends. He smiled a bit, seeing how most of them weren't completely hurt. However, he did know what Vera and Kat did to Elena and Lizzy, and he suspected that everyone's mental state looked worse than their physical.

Stopping when he got to Arianne's window,Jasper's heart beating a little more painfully than before. He knew how much she hated being alone and he could already feel the pain radiating from her. He could merely turn the other way, go back to the hunter's den or just hang out somewhere like he did the night before. But, his body reacted differently than his mind. Out of instinct, Jasper hopped into the room in silence.

He walked over to her and he interlaced his fingers with hers. Jasper couldn't will himself to talk, afraid of knowing how his own voice will sound. However, he knew that she would see his now pale eyes through the dark.

Arianne gasped slightly, moving towards the wall as she heard someone jump into her room. But, as soon as she saw whom it was, she was silent. She laid there, a bit in awe at first. Sure, his eyes were not his, but everything else was. Her lips trembled as the faint trace of a smile brushed across them. "Jazzy..." She whispered, her hand squeezing his. She pulled him onto the mattress with her and pulled herself close to him, closing her eyes and letting go of his hands to wrap her arms around his lean abdomen. She cried softly now, but it was not sad like before. It was relieved. To be able to feel him there, no matter how little of him she was actually holding -- it was still Jasper. Her Jasper.

Jasper moved as she wanted him to, only glad that he could see a smile appear on her lips. Instinctively, he moved his arms, one gently soothing the back of her head and the other loosely wrapped around her neck. At first, he was hesitant, but he slowly moved his face to bury it into the top of her head. He closed his eyes, enveloping his sense, his thought, his heart, with her scent. "...I'm... sorry... for everything..." He spook carefully, his voice hoarse from the lack of vocal activity since Leah took him.

Arianne winced slightly at the way his voice sounded. She missed his soothing voice. But, she could still hear that voice buried beneath the hoarse voice he had now. "It's not your fault," She whispered and nuzzled her head close to his collarbone. If anything, he still smelled like her Jasper. That was enough to soothe her. She leaned back to look at him and brought one hand up, caressing his cheek. "She hasn't hurt you, has she?" She asked quietly, chewing on her bottom lip after.

Jasper merely shook his head and looked into her eyes. His hand reaches to softly brush a tear from her cheek before carefully cupping her cheek. He didn't trust himself completely around her, especially after he nearly stabbed Arianne if it hadn't been for Damon. He still felt the way Leah controlled him, except for the killing aspect of it, he still felt empty of any emotion. His heart would only remind him from time to time that he still felt pain.

"Not entirely... It was only when..." Jasper stopped mid-sentence, not wanting to bring up that particular memory. Her sobbing, screaming, begging him to come back to her while having Leah on the other side telling Jasper to kill Arianne. After he stabbed her and when he almost killed her, the dreams seemed to rush back in.

Arianne searched his pale eyes and knew instantly what he was not wanting to speak of. She turned her head in his touch and kissed his palm. "That was not you, Jasper. I know that," She whispered. "But... I saw you, somewhere in there... I couldn't leave you," She frowned and snuggled her small frame close to his. She leaned her forehead to his and sighed. "You... can't stay, can you?" She whispered. "You could... It's safe here... It seems Leah can't come in -- or the others," She said softly.

"Why didn't she just take me...?" She asked after a long moment. "My family is who she wants... I would do anything to have my shy, bright-eyed Jazzy back," She whispered, nuzzling her nose affectionately against his.

Jasper sighed and nodded at her words softly. He closed his eyes as she rested her forehead against his, his arms wrapping around her waist softly. He shook his head at her question and her suggestion. "Leah... is clever to say the least... You might not have to worry about her... but Kat's poison... she can still control it in here... She'll make sure that anyone who's injected with it suffers..." Jasper tells her with a sigh. He still didn't understand why they had to go after his sister and his youngest cousin.

"Arianne..." Jasper starts, looking into her eyes. He knew he had to tell her, but it was excruciatingly painful to do so. He had to though, for her safety. "... Leah wants to... make sure that you... suffer for everything your mother did to her father... She'll do just about anything... One of her things, pretty close to the top of her list, she wants... is that... I kill you..." He shifted his eyes downwards from hers, shaking his head softly. "If I don't follower her orders... She'll kill you instead... If you ever see me... outside from here... You need to run away from me..."

Arianne sunk a bit as he confirmed her fear. It sounded like something Leah would do to her. She closed her eyes and only held herself closer to him. "Mom did this... not me... Why do I have to suffer?" She whispered brokenly. "I don't want to be afraid of you, Jasper... I do not want to run from you, ever... I've always run to you," She whispered, then looked up at him. "She won't even give me the option of taking my mothers place?" She questioned.

Jasper shook his head. "You have to Arianne... If you don't... I don't know what I would do if I were the one to actually..." He refused to finish that sentence as well. "Don't do it even if she does..."

Arianne pursed her lips and looked away for a moment. She knew she would if Leah asked. It would save everyone else. She looked up to him and stroked his cheek gently. Searching his eyes for a long moment only led her to sigh. She leaned up and pressed a soft kiss against his lips. His lips were the same as she remembered. That much was the same.

Jasper sighed softly before looking into her brown eyes. His finger brushes back a lock of her hair from her face behind her ear. Jasper cups both of her cheeks as she kissed his lips. He closed his eyes, letting the feeling take over for a moment. "I love you Arianne...." He whispers against the kiss.

Arianne leaned into his touch and sighed. "I love you, more," She whispered in return and kissed him again, gently and lovingly. She wanted this feeling -- the feeling that things weren't gone to hell. She wanted to be with him, in their new home, safe from harm. She wanted Liam and Helena to be planning a wedding and trying to keep him from falling down the isle. She wanted Stefan and Ian to travel the world like she'd heard them plan. She wanted Rose and Damon to have the life Rose had planned for them. If it weren't for her family, they would all have that. "I'm so sorry we're in this mess," She whispered against his lips.

Jasper shook his head gently. "Don't apologize... This isn't your fault." He whispers in the kiss before pulling back gently. He caressed her cheeks lightly, giving her a sad smile. "I have to go soon..." He whispers, looking into her eyes.

Arianne shook her head and pulled him closer. "No..." She mumbled stubbornly. "Don't leave," She whispered. "What if I go with you?" She asked, looking up at him. "I could talk to Leah..."

Jasper shook his head lightly. "No... You're not coming with me..." He tells her firmly, looking into her eyes. "If Leah takes you or kills you... for that matter... I don't know what I would do with myself..."

Arianne pursed her lips and sighed, cupping his cheeks. "I'll be okay, Jasper... The sooner we end this, the sooner we can all get back to what we had before," She whispered.

Jasper looked into her eyes, searching for any hint that she wasn't a hundred percent sure herself. Unfortunately, he found it all over her beautiful eyes that his memory remembered so clearly. "Arianne... I would rather spend the rest of my life under Leah's control than give have you go to her... You can't leave me..." He whispered, grabbing her hand and kissing it over and over again.

"And so would I," Arianne whispered back to him, shaking her head and looking down to their hands as he kissed hers. "I... I don't know how to function properly without you around. Thank Gods for Damon being who I was separated with... Sometimes I hate how attached to you I got," She smiled sheepishly. "But, at the same time, you're the best thing that has ever happened to me... You've saved my life hundreds of times without you even realizing it... I just... I need to do what's right for once in my life, Jasper."

Jasper sighed, listening to her words. Jasper brushed his fingers against her cheek gently before moving down to her neck, grabbing the chain gently. He moved his fingers along the chain until he moved the pendant in his hand. "I... won't stop you from... making your decision, your mind already made up whether I like it or not... But... please stay strong... and remember that even when I'm not with you physically... You always have my heart with you...' He tells her, kissing the pendant ever so lightly before looking back up at her through his dark eyelashes.

Arianne looked towards him and sighed, moving her gaze to the pendant next. "Jasper..." She whispered and lifted his chin to kiss his lips deeply. "I love you... I'll be okay," She said quietly. "But... I'd rather be with you when I do go to them," She said quietly, stroking his cheek.

Jasper searched her eyes as she spoke. He looked away from her, taking her hands in between his. He closed his eyes as his lips rested on her fingers. He tried to think of all the rights and wrongs of bringing her with him. Sadly, he made endless amount of reasons to not take her rather than take her now. However, she was going do it, with or without him, which made the other side look even better. He sighed gently before chuckling a bit sadly. "Rosie will kill me for saying yes..."

Arianne bit her bottom lip and smiled lightly as she heard him laugh, no matter how sad. "Rosie will get over it," she whispered and gently rolled on top of him. She cuddled her small frame to his chest and placed a few soft kisses on his neck. "I love you, Jasper..." She whispered near his ear.

"Hopefully..." Jasper sighs a bit before wrapping his arms around her frame. He kissed the top of head softly. "And I love you Arianne..." He whispers, his fingers caressing her back. "If you really want to do this... we must leave soon..."

Arianne nuzzled her head to his neck and took in his warm scent. "I'm doing it... I'm just glad you agreed to let me go with you instead of on my own... Maybe the dogs will stay away if I'm with you," She murmured. "Come on, then," she sighed and got up. She brushed herself off and took his hands, tugging him up. She pulled him into a soft kiss. "I'll be okay, Jasper," she said quietly. She nuzzled their noses together before sighing and tugging him towards the window. She pulled herself up and through the window. Outside, it was cold. She shivered a bit and looked around. It was dark. In the distance, she could hear the dogs. She swallowed the lump in her throat and sighed, looking back at Jasper. "Come on..."