Chapter 20

After a long day, they were back home. A two day trip was done in one and Renae and Braxton slept most of the way home. Jarrod parked the car just as Renae had woken up.

"Time to wake up." Renae lightly shook Braxton.

"Ten more minutes." He grumbled.

"Okay, you can sleep in the car. Bye." Renae smiled as she opened the car door. Jarrod Laughed as Braxton jumped up and followed her out.

"You're so mean." He whined following her.

"And you're so whiny and clingy." She moaned as they walked around the building to the house.

"Wow, you are mean. What should I make for dinner?" Jarrod laughed as he opened the door and turned on the lights.

"Chicken noodle casserole. I need a shower." She pushed past and ran into her room and closed the door.

"Sir, I had a few questions." Braxton walked in and closed the door behind him.

"So do I, why don't you get a clean shirt on?" Jarrod grumbled as he stumbled into the kitchen.

"When did Rae leave your office yesterday?" He watched Jarrod put a pot of boiling water on the stove.

"It was after my meeting with her and James so, almost nine I think. Why do you ask?" Jarrod pulled out all the ingredients for the chicken.

"Well sir, if she left your office at nine, then she left James around nine-thirty, how did she get to that murder shack in nearly half an hour just by walking?" Braxton asked trying to figure it out himself.

"She's coming into her vampire abilities." He whispered with horror on his face.

"I know she's a half and half but shouldn't she already have a while ago? Normally born vampires stop aging at fifteen to sixteen. How old's Renae?" Braxton stood there as Jarrod looked to the hall then back at the food he was cooking.

"She'll be eighteen in less then a week. Until we know more from the testing, I don't want to speak a word of this to her, not from me or you, understand?" He pointed his finger at Braxton.

"Understood." Braxton choked out.

"Understood what?" Renae called from the hall.

"Oh, your dad told me not to tell anyone the ingredients of his chicken cause he didn't realize I was watching him." Braxton smiled scratching the back of his head.

"Yes, well I also told him about how I always felt a man deserved his secrets." Jarrod smiled proud he had not told a lie.

"Alright then." Renae shrugged her shoulders before she flipped her head over and scrunched her wet hair into a messy bun and tied it up. She stood up and saw Braxton staring at her. "Come on." She rolled her eyes and waved her hands. He followed her into Jarrods room. "You need a shower, I'm sure you'll feel better after getting this horrible day off of you." She grabbed some of Jarrod clothes and handed them to Braxton before shoving him into Jarrods bathroom.

"Uhm..." Braxton just stood there not knowing what to do.

"It's not hard to work the shower. It's the same as in the dorms." She smirked as she walked in and turned on the water. "Besides, your half undressed already. You can use dads shampoo and body wash, he won't care. I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything." She smiled as she started closing the door.

"Wait." He said as he grabbed her arm. He put the clothes on the counter and pulled her back in the bathroom. "I-" He started to blush.

"Braxton. I think I know what you want. We need to take things slow. We barely know each other." She sighed.

"Do you?" He started, then looked down "you don't want what I want... do you?" He looked up at her pouting.

"I don't know. I don't know what you want because you never told me. I don't know what I want because my life is hectic, the month you've known me is proof enough." She cupped his face trying to cheer him up.

"I want you. I want love and romance, with you. When I'm with you, I feel like I'm flying in the clouds but when you're gone, I feel like I'm on the brink of hitting the ground." He grabbed her hand and held it to his chest "I swear when I feel your touch, I can feel my heart want to start again."

"Braxton... What am I supposed to say to that?" Renae blushed looking at her hand on his chest, in her mind she thought how he was the first one to declare any kind of love for her.

"You're not supposed to say anything if you don't want. I want you to be able to figure out what you want, I just want one thing in return." He leaned in just as she looked up at him.

He pressed his lips against hers. Feeling the love she never thought she'd have, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He slowly opened his mouth for Renae to follow his lead, their tongues danced in the small space between their lips, Braxton pulled back for a mere second as he grabbed the small of her back, in retaliation she bit his lip causing him to moan with pleasure. Renae began trembling to his touch as he explored her body with his hands, as one hand explored lower, she lifted her leg and wrapped it around him. In his excitement, he picked her up, not leaving her lips again, and placed her on the counter to better match his height. Hunger growling, he left her lips and started slowly trailing down her neck, once his lips met her collarbone he nibbled softly and smirked at her satisfactory filled moan. He stood back up meeting her lips again as he slowly began lifting her shirt. She felt his erect member press against her inner thigh, causing her to jerk back.

"What's the matter?" He panted looking at her shock.

"I..." She bit her lip.

"You really don't want to do this do you?" He stepped back disappointed and angry.

"I do, I really do..." She paused looking down at her arm. "...before we do anything more, I need to tell you something first." She hopped off the counter. She walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She leaned against the door with her heart pounding. Her mind heavier then it was before. When she looked up to start walking, she was met with Jarrod standing there, crossing his arms.

"H-hi dad." Her voice cracked.

"So what took so long?" He glared at her knowing full well what they were trying to accomplish.

"Well first I helped him with the shower, then we started talking about what we wanted since we haven't known each other for long and to try and sort our feelings, we sort of... made out? That's as far as it went tho I swear." She spoke quickly in her confession then saw the anger spark in Jarrods eyes.

"Well, at least my cupcake still has her innocence." He patted her head and walked back into the kitchen. As soon as he was turned around Renae bit her lip.

Renae followed Jarrod into the kitchen and sat at the table as they waited for the food in the oven and for Braxton to finish his shower. Hearing the water stop, Renae waited a few minutes before walking back into Jarrods room. She knocked on the door and heard no response.

"Braxton, when you're done, I need to talk to you about something so come into the kitchen, okay?" She started to walk away when the door opened, showing Braxton was wrapped in a towel.

"I just need to get dressed real quick." He looked at her with lust in his eyes.

"O-okay" She blushed looking away "I'll just be out there when you're done." She turned around and walked out of the room.

"It should be done in about ten minutes." Jarrod said turning to see Renae was upset. "What's the matter hun?"

"Dad, there's something really important we need to talk about." She motioned for him to sit at the table. A tear rolled down her cheek as she felt her stomach flip. Her heart pounding harder as she heard Braxtons footsteps behind her. She felt Braxton place his hands on her shoulder and kiss the top of her head. She pulled out the chair next to her so Braxton could sit, he looked at her concerned as he sat down next to her.

"What's the matter?" He asked squeezing her hand. She pulled her hand and placed both of them in her lap.

She took a deep breath before she started speaking "I was about fourteen years old... there was an issue of not having enough money in the house and Kelly had left so she wasn't able to help us anymore. She wanted money for drugs and she..." Renaes eyes swelled with tears as her heart pounded.

"Hey, it's okay." She looked up to see Braxton through her tears, he was showing her a reassuring smile.

"Honey, you don't need to tell us anything if it hurts you this much." She looked over to see Jarrod reaching his hand over to rub her arm in comfort.

"As much as I wish nothing ever happened, I need to tell you. I need to tell you both." She looked down and started to breathe as calmly as she could and kept her eyes low. "She sold... my virginity.." She was scared to look at either of them for fear of judgement.

"W-what?" Jarrods voice was shaky.

"Why?" Braxtons voice followed shortly after Jarrods. She looked up to see Jarrod had a single tear shining in his eye hiding his extreme anger, she watched with horror seeing his eyes change from his normal brown-hazel to a dark blood red. Renaes entire body began to shake.

"I-I didn't-"

"It's not your fault. I'm sure it was against your will and I'm sure you were fighting." She looked over to Braxton, surprised by his reaction. His face still held that reassuring smile but his eyes were fighting back tears. She returned her gaze back to her hands still in her lap.

"Is there anymore?" Jarrod pushed out through gritted teeth.

"I-I was tied down." She grabbed her wrists and pulled up her long sleeves relieving the heat of attention they caused. "I'm sorry, I tried to fight back b-but I couldn't. I-I did everything I c-could think of." She was sobbing at this point in her explanation. Everytime she tried to catch her breath, it only jumped more. "It happened at l-least once a m-month, most of the time I-I was able to g-get away, b-but the r-rest of th-the t-time I" She tried to continue, she couldn't speak without air in her lungs. She reached up to her throat feeling the suffocation, she tried to grab her neck only feeling her skin was present.

"Hey, hey, hey..." Braxton wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back.

"I-I.." She couldn't get anything more out. She felt her throat tightening.

"Hey, it's okay. Just breathe okay?" His voice was calm. She took a deep breath still feeling no air in her lungs.

"Hey, tell me something you hear." He pulled back watching her face.

"M-my h-heart beat." She spoke slowly.

"Tell me two things you feel." He cupped her face keeping eye contact with her.

"I-I feel h-heat."

"What else?" He rubbed her check with his thumb.

"Y-your hand." She grabbed his hand on her cheek as she felt air slowly fill her lungs.

"Good, now three things you see." She looked up at his gaze.

"Y-your eyes." She felt her heart rate calm then looked around more "m-my dad... and my bracelet."

"Good job hun. Just breathe now." He leaned in and kissed her forehead.