Chapter 364

"Okay," he says, his smirk softening to a smile. "But...I mean, are you mad? That I'm not a virgin, like you?"

"Wait, how do you know I'm a virgin?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.noveldrama

He sniffs the air around me. "I can tell by your scent."

"What!?" I screech, eyes wide.

But he just laughs at me and shakes his head, and I shriek again and smack him on the chest when I realize that he's kidding.

*I just... put the pieces together, Ari. I think you've had a sheltered life and Jesse would have teased you about it in front of me if you'd had a serious boyfriend before. He wouldn't have been able to resist that bait. And I think if you'd slept with Luca...he'd have let me know."

I sigh, realizing that that's right. That Luca absolutely would have used it as leverage against Jackson - wouldn't have been able to resist it in the same way Jesse can't resist a good tease.

"So," Jackson continues, shrugging again. "Just...an educated guess. But...I mean, are you? Mad?"

"No, Jacks," I say instantly, suddenly sorry that my reaction made him think that. "I don't care that you've had a history. I'm just... surprised. When Daphne came into the room that time you were ready to bolt - and she didn't even want to sleep with you -*

"Yes she did," he murmurs, dry.

I burst out laughing and smack him again, not bothering to mention that she did think he was cute - second only to Rafe, in her estimation. "Shut up," I growl, jealousy rankling in me a little at the thought. "But seriously? How did this happen?"

"It was... at the Community," Jackson says quietly, getting started on the story. "Her name..." he hesitates, "Do you want to know her name?"

I consider it for a second, and then nod.

"Her name was Tasha," he continues, holding my gaze. "And it was all...really strange."

"Okay," I say, feeling oddly half tense and half calm. I lean back against his arm a little, still clutching the sheets to my chest so I have something to hold tight in my fists. "Tell me everything, Jacks."

"Okay," he murmurs, and then he leans forward to press a long kiss to my lips, passing all his love and assurance and adoration down the bond to me before he starts, letting me hold onto it while he speaks so that I know that the story itself changes nothing.

When he pulls away he looks at me curiously, asking if I'm ready for it. And I nod.

"It was....spring?" he says, taking a deep breath, his eyes going a little far off as he gets started. Jackson shakes his head at the memory. "About three years ago. That's...all I've got, time-wise. Time works differently in the Community than it does here. We don't have...calendars. No weeks, no months. Just days, following one after another, and then seasons of course. But even those aren't marked by holidays, so," he shrugs, blinking and focusing on me again. "It's... hard to tell when things happened, or what's coming up."

I nod, urging him to continue.

"When I got to the city," he says softly, musing, "I thought you all had such a ridiculous mania for tracking time. Like everyone's on the same clock, down the second?" he shakes his head, frowning. "I mean, why? I still think that, a little bit. But I also realized that... that perhaps the Community took away time as a further way to control us. You can't make plans to meet up with people, or to escape, if you've got no way to plan when that happens. Except the moon, but..."

He sighs, and hangs his head a bit, and I reach out to put my hand on his cheek.

And then raises his head to look into my eyes, his face a little sad, and he begins to tell me everything.