It's complicated

James could not help stealing glances at Jessica. The sunlight picked up the color in her hair. He almost missed the volleyball once or twice because he was looking at her instead of the game. It was during one of those times that the car rolled up. He watched as a small human got out, someone that walked up to her with purpose, but not malice. His scent was human, but with something underneath. He lost track for a moment as the ball came toward him. He swatted it to another player and looked to Jessica. He tried to listen as he could while playing the game.

"Is he...please don't tell me...."

"No, Miss Hamby. He isn't. I do not know why he has not been in contact or what has been going on...but..."

Whatever was on the photo rattled Jessica and he was about to walk over when she spoke.

"Vincent, wait. I'm glad he knows. Since...I know nothing about him. Maybe she can keep him happier, since I wasn't enough."

"Miss Hamby, wait a moment...The woman in this photo is closer to Mr. Quinn than his own blood sister. It is nothing inappropriate like you have assumed...though I can see why you would see things that way and yes I am certain that your friend over there can hear us, and I do not care. I will not have you assuming a falsehood about Mr. Quinn. He swore faithfulness to you until such time as you chose to leave him. As far as I am aware, that has not happened and therefore he will remain faithful. He must have his reasons for not coming back yet, and when he returns, I would hope that you will at least give hi the chance to speak before assuming the worst. You did not see him before he left, Miss Hamby. He looked haunted....even scared...that smile is more welcome than you can imagine, and we have no way of knowing the context of the moment that photo was taken."

Jessica looked as if she had been slapped. James batted the ball away as he listened.

"Don't be happy for something I don't understand. James is...a friend. Whatever you think it is, you're wrong. So I guess we both made the wrong assumptions."


Her words were like a slap to his face. A friend. He had hoped she saw him as more than that.

He lost track of the conversation for a minute while the ball came to him, then heard the car leaving.

He walked away from the game, motioning for someone to take his place. Her words still stung, but she looked upset.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just an old friend."

"Who's Quinn?"

He was not sure about the expression in her eyes as she said, "James, we need to talk."

"Of course, Jessica. Out here or inside?"

She looked over at Violet and Jason, remembering their earlier talk and swallowed before looking back at James and seeing hurt in his eyes. He'd heard...he'd heard everything. She had so much to explain, and all she could do was pray it didn't hurt him more.

"Can we...take a walk?"

Without waiting for his answer, she turned towards the woods and began to walk for the trees. The sun shining and the clouds stagnant in the sky. No sign of rain, at least not in the sky. Rain was in her heart, metaphorically speaking. She walked in silence, knowing he was following behind closely. Stopping in the middle of the trees, she turned in her spot and looked at him.

"There's a lot you don't know about me. There's a lot I'm not proud of..." She looked down and played with a small twig in her hand, trying to think of how to explain this to him.

She did not wait for an answer as she walked away, so he followed her. He wondered where they were going and why, but he trusted her. When she stopped, she has a look of purpose in her eyes.

"There's a lot you don't know about me. There's a lot I'm not proud of..."

"Jessica. We are vampires. I do not think any of our kind can say they are guiltless. We all make mistakes, especially when we are young. I know we do not know a lot about each other, but I am willing to take the time to change that. After all, time means so more more to our kind than to the humans."

He stepped close, brushing a stray hair from her face and looking her in the eyes.

"Whatever you need to tell me, I will listen. We can start there and see what happens. I am ready to listen if you are ready to talk. What is wrong?"

She felt comfortable with him, more than she had with anyone else in a while. She'd let herself be open to Jason...and she got hurt. She dropped the walls after Quinn broke through them and then...well, you get it. It was a routine, a pattern. Why would James be any different?

She took an unneeded breath and listened to his words, which were sweet. They were always so sweet, so...right. Looking down at her hands, then back up at him, he stepped closer to move a strand of hair from her face and she smiled slightly.

"Quinn is...honestly? I'm not sure what you would call him. We were...together...engaged. He left. I haven't heard from him or word about him. I thought he was dead. And then Bill had visions, and I killed four fairy girls, well, one lived and that was great then I went to Jason because I was high and Sarah got upset and I was taken to that camp and then I met you and you were so nice to me, and you refused to...to hurt me and I'd never been with a vampire and it was amazing, great even. And then I realized I liked you and I pulled back a bit, my thoughts were always going to him and I hated him for it. He left me...he gave up. I just---"

Her words trailed off and she looked up, embarrassed that she'd rambled so much. "Sorry--I...."

James smiled as she rattled on, obviously nervous. When she stopped, he stepped close and kissed her nose.

"So you had a history, one that never got closure. I get that. Your mind goes to him because you still care. I get that too."

He looked gently in her eyes.

"I hope that one day I can earn the chance to be in your thoughts all the time too, but I am willing to invest the time. If you need to find this 'Quinn' and resolve things, then I'll come with you. It will be an adventure. What is better is that we can move during the daylight."

He took her hands gently in his, curling her fingers in his own.

"I am here for you, but only as much as you need me to be. Time is one thing we have a lot of, so we can spend it easily."

How did he do that? When she was nervous, scared, rambling, freaking out, he calmed her. Just like when Bill was practically dying and he thought of the solution. She couldn't help but smile when he kissed her nose.

She looked down at his hand cupping hers, then back into his eyes. "I--I'm not sure. I mean..he's...also a were-tiger." She said softly and winced, then remembered James was a much older vampire. Well, what did she expect? A fight between them? He left with no reassurance that he'd be back for her or that he wanted to be with her. She was clueless as to his intentions so she hadn't cheated on him, technically.

"I'd like that." She looked up at the sky, the sun warming her skin. Slowly, she lowered her head to look back into his eyes. "For so long I'd wished for the sun, prayed even. To be with him, to spend the day with him because he was not cursed to the night like I was. Who would have guess I'd be spending it with you instead, and I'm...glad." She said ending with a smile before moving closer to him and kissing his lips softly.

Her words drowned the sting from earlier. She was happy to be here with him. Her lips pressed to his own send no uncertain signal that she was making a choice. She wanted him to be there with her. She needed to close out her past and he would be happy to keep her company while she did that. She seemed nervous about the fact of this 'Quinn's nature. She probably did not realize how old he was, since they had never really discussed it. When she pulled back, he smiled.

"I've known weres before, Jessica. Though I have never dated one, I have had several as friends. As long as they have a clear understanding of things, they are no threat. Even if they were, I have been around a good while and know how to protect what I care about. Violence is never the right answer, but it does no good to face harm and not be ready for it."

He took her hands again and smiled.

"So where do we begin? The human gave you a picture. Do we know where it was taken? That seems like a good place to look for your friend."

She nodded and agreed with what he said. She shouldn't be worried, it would never come to that. The feel of his hands holding hers was odd. Not in a bad way, not at all. It was nice, different. The same temperature. They were...the same. Species, temperature...but there was so much more she wanted to know about him. But, he was right, they had nothing but time.

He brought up the picture and she absentmindedly pulled her hands from his and stepped back. The twigs snapping under her feet as she shook her head no. "Why should I go find him? Why should I search for him?" The anger in her boiled over, she hadn't even realized it had seeped up until she balled her fists. "He...left me there. In Nevada...I had to find my way back home. I was scared...alone...and then I went to that camp...did he look for me? No...he didn't." She felt the hurt too and refused to let her tears fall in front of him so she turned away from him.

There was no warning when her anger finally boiled over. He listened as she vented that anger and made some valid points. She turned away from him, and he knew why. He pulled her close, leaving her back to him, resting his chin on her shoulder and whispering.

"Then we just spend our time getting to know one another. Let him remain in the past and stay there until something changes that fact. If he comes back, I will be at your side to face him. If he never returns, then so be it and let the past fade. Time has a way of taking some of the sting away. Perhaps I can help you learn to find positive things to push the rest of the pain into the past where it too can fade."

He took her hand and let her to a hilltop that crested the treetops. He sat down in the open grass, smiling up at her.

"When is that last time you watched a sunset simply to enjoy the sun setting?"

She heard him move closer to her and held her tears in, refusing to let them be seen. His arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her back against his chest, he whispered next to her ear and she closed her eyes. His words were comfort to her pain, water to the flames of her anger. She exhaled slowly and nodded. "I'd like that...I want to...I want to push the pain in the past."

He took her hand and she turned slightly, looking up at him as he spotted something in the distance, pulling her towards the hill. Her eyes never left him. When he stopped and took a seat she looked down at him and then looked around. His words really hit home, because truthfully it had been too long. But not half as long as he'd waited.

"It's...been a long time." She said, pushing back all memories of the past to focus on the now. Taking a seat next to him, she watched the sun begin to dip behind the clouds and rested her head on his shoulder. There was so much she wanted to say but couldn't. Instead, she just took his hand in hers and squeezed it once. Unspoken words were sometimes all that was needed.