Vampire Diary Ch 7: This is Home

Bella blushed, her cheeks turning bright pink. She always felt self-conscious when people referred to how scrawny she was.

Adrian smiled and kissed her cheek. "You look fine." He corrected.

Bella smiled, blushing brightly still, her cheeks warm. "Thanks..." she smiled, eating anyways.

Jason didn't come in. He had found something he had long ago lost. he was sitting crouched down in another room, leaning on the wall and looking down at the small, slightly-larger-than-wallet-sized picture of a woman. He felt his heart breaking all over again. He closed his eyes as tears started to roll down his cheeks. "why didn't you save yourself then... mom..." he murmured

Zane came in, "Are you OK?" he sat next to him. Zane looked at the picture, "Oh..."

He held the picture close to his heart. The memories still hurt more than he could bear. Over time Jason had simply pushed them away to save himself from the pain, but this picture brought it all flooding back. His body quivered as he held back his sobs and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "I'm fine" he managed to say although his voice cracked when he spoke. He had never been one to show weakness, so he tried to mask his pain now.

Zane nodded, knowing all about what had happened. He started to say something, but then Janzelle stumbled into the room, "My head hurts..." she muttered.

"zane you should probably get her some asprin" he said. "i don't remember where it is" he lied. He was still trying to get himself in order.

Zane caught the hint, "Alright. Just come in the kitchen when you're ready." he said, leading Janzelle into the kitchen.
She sniffed the air, "Something smells good..."

The second they were gone it was as though the only thing stopping his tears had left too, as the flood began anew. He just couldn't stop it now that it had begun.

Elle had been sleeping in that room, and woke when she heard Jason crying. She groaned lightly, at first not sure why she was awake, then seeing him, crawled out of bed and sat next to him, "What's wrong?" she asked, a bit unsure what had happened.

Jason quickly wiped his eyes. "noting, i'm fine' he said again with a cracked voice. he was already trying to hide it agian.

"Obviously not..." Elle said simply, "You can tell me if you want, but I'm not going to make you."

Jason closed his eyes and sighed, handing her the picture to see but saying nothing

Elle looked at the picture, "She looks a lot like you... Is this your mom?"

Jason nodded slowly, still not looking up at her.

Elle leaned down so his eyes were looking at her, "I never knew my family, so I can't say I know how you feel; I don't."

"you think i would be over it by now... they died when i was six for crying out loud" he muttered. before he knew what he was doing he was reccounting what happened that night. "we were.... just playing a game, can't recall what game it was, when my dad stood up and told my mom and me to run. we ran and before we got out of sight of the house... we looked back and it was on fire. I wanted to go back to get my dad, but my mom just pulled me along. I heard people following us. she told me to keep running and not to look back." he said shaking a bit. "she pushed me ahead and I ran, since she had told me she would catch up... I spent five days hiding before I returned home.... I found my mom's body first, full of bullet holes and cut almost beyond recognition" he had to pause as his body shook uncontrollably as the memory gripped his whole body. "my dad was almost as hard to look at. shot full of holes and burned so his skin was black..." he murmured, tears now streaming down his face. "I buried both of them that day...." he whispered. "now they're together again, but I was left alone on this earth..." he said sighing. "i'll never forget the look of the one slayer I saw, only briefly, as my parents went to fight him... My family weren't the stereotype evil demons, but on that day I saw one..." he said leaning into the wall and closing his eyes as the tears flowed down his face. He couldn't say anymore. The old pain in his chest now gripped his throat to silence.

Elle laid her hand on his chest, whispering a shhh to try and calm him. Her touch somehow calmed him, perhaps it was just her ability. "What's past is past. I know it's something that's hard to forget, but you have to see the light at the end. Maybe you'll see this fellow again someday, maybe you won't. Either way, it's not going to bring them back. Time heals all things. Even things I can't. I would try to bring them back for you, but that seems to be the one thing I can't do."

Jason nodded slowly. He managed to finally regain his composure. he felt so....vulnerable now... something he hadn't felt since that night. He had worked hard, getting stronger just to be sure he never felt that way again... but now that he was here.... "After I buried my parents I just ran. I got lucky enough to bump into Zane and his brother before I did something stupid" he remarked sighing.

Elle nodded, "So that's why you are so attached to him?" she asked, more stating it that asking.

"well yeah... we're brothers in all but blood" he said. "now that Marcello is gone, zane is the last thing resembling family i've got left" he admitted.

Elle nodded, "You're lucky to have him. And he's lucky to have you. I can tell he leans on you a lot as well."

Jason nodded. "yeah we lean on each other a lot, especially now.." he said breathing a little easier now. His ears were laying back on his head shyly.

She nodded, "With everyone's deaths, I know... Seems like the world is falling apart sometimes, doesn't it?"