Paradigm Shift [On-going]

Suspicion

Jasmine is a very vigilant person, and it is because of this vigilance that she had grown suspicious of the three men that she had become close to over the past few months. At first, she thought she was imagining it. That her mind was just over sensitive from being messed around so much by Damien, but then the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that there was more to these three men than met the eye. The first thing that made her suspicious was when she had first met them. When she had introduced herself, Dean seemed to act strangely. He froze, and the way he looked at her made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. He seemed to stare straight into her soul and, for a moment, her conscience told her to distance herself from him. Then he seemed to snap out of it and smiled at her, and she was suddenly aware of just how handsome he was. The second thing that made her suspicious was that whenever she touched one of them, they were always freezing cold. She herself was sensitive to cold, but they were a lot colder than she was and it just didn't make sense. The third thing that made her suspicions was Seth's ability to know what she wanted to eat without her telling him. He always seemed to be one step ahead. It was like he could read her mind. She knew something was going on and the more time she spent with them, the more she noticed...

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* * *
Dean

The next morning, Jasmine and I made use of the basement gym while Roman and Seth attempted to give us some privacy. I was grateful and pleased when I sensed she was completely at ease with my company. She seemed nervous while approaching the treadmill, but that was to be expected after the fall she had at the performance center.

"Did Roman or Seth tell you about my accident at the performance centre?"

She was attempting to make conversation with me, which was promising considering the way I'd treated her

"Yeah. It sounded pretty bad" I answered.

"It was only a small cut, but it bled a lot. Thankfully Seth had a towel with him otherwise I would've redecorated the performance centre" she said, laughing at herself.

I took my shirt off and poured some water over my head, shaking off the excess the same way a dog would after getting a bath. Jasmine laughed at me and I realised it was quickly becoming my favourite sound.

"You're very weird" she said. "Has anyone ever told you that?"

"All the time" I answered. "Would you be up for going out somewhere to eat with me?"

''Are you trying to ask me out on a date?'' She asked playfully

"It can be a date if you want it to be" I replied

She thought for a moment as she shamelessly observed my abs. "yeah ok"

I took her out to dinner that night and I made an effort with what I wore. When we arrived at the Italian restaurant, I'd chose we were escorted to our seats. A basket of breadsticks was placed in front of us, and Jasmine gave the waitress her drink order. When the waitress asked me what I wanted to drink, I could hear her thoughts clearly. 'oh wow. I wonder If..she's no...she's probably his sister...but...oh he's so...handsome' the waitress was only young, probably in her late teens, and I couldn't find it in myself to be dismissive with her. I ordered a water and offered her a smile before she left.

"You should be careful with that smile of yours" Jasmine said. "It's a lethal weapon"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Jasmine shook her head at my apparent unawareness. "It's contagious"

The waitress returned with our drinks and Jasmine ordered while I made do with my water.

"Are you not eating?" Jasmine asked as she cut into her lasagne.

"I'm not hungry" I answered honestly

"So you asked me out to dinner so that you could just watch me eat?"

I hadn't thought of what I would do once we got to the restaurant. I just wanted to spend some time alone with her.

"We could've just gone to a drive through or something" Jasmine added

I took a sip of my water and it felt strange to drink something other than blood. "I know Italian food is your favourite, and I wanted to treat you"

Jasmine frowned. "I can't remember telling you that"

She hadn't. I'd read her mind "lucky guess I suppose"

She seemed unconvinced as she stared at me. If I could see the inner workings of her brain, there would probably be cogs turning.

"You, Seth and Roman are three of the most confusing men I've ever met" she finally voiced

"How so?" I asked.

She took another bite of her lasagne before answering "I'm not sure what it is yet...but there is definitely something different about the three of you"

"Do you want dessert?" I asked, eager to change the subject.

She had barely finished her main

"Are you a secret feeder?" She asked.

I laughed "Don't be ridiculous"

We finished our drinks, and I took care of the bill, ignoring the note inside with the waitress's number on it. As we stepped outside, it had begun to rain and Jasmine shivered as goosebumps spread across her arms. I shrugged off my leather jacket and placed it over her shoulders. She put her arms through the sleeves and looked up at me as she lifted her arms up. The sleeves were too long for her and seeing her look so small, wrapped up in my clothes, made me feel warm inside. We made our way back to my car and as I drove us back to the house, I could feel Jasmine's curiosity peek once again.

"Dean, can I ask you something?"

I grew nervous as I sensed she was going to ask me something I couldn't answer. "Go ahead"

"That wasn't a lucky guess back there, was it?"

Damn it. I knew I should've said that "Of course it was. How else would I know?"

"Well, that's what I'm saying. I've noticed things. Things that can't be explained" Jasmine voiced.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Well, for example. If Roman injured his eye during SmackDown, how is it perfectly fine now?"

I hadn't thought about Roman's eye. He had injured it during Fridays SmackDown taping, and it had healed as soon as he got backstage. Of course, she'd noticed. It had only been two days. I did not know what to say to her.

"Dean?" Jasmine pushed. "Please tell me I'm not imagining it all"

"You're not imagining it" I relented "but...i...we can't talk about it"

We arrived back at the house before she could ask anymore questions and she returned my jacket before making her way upstairs. She didn't return for the rest of the night.