Chapter 197

Tessa’s POV

I stared into the foggy mirror in Joseph’s bathroom. My long brown hair lay wet around my shoulders, sticking to the sides of my face from the shower I just had. My naked body still had droplets of water, dripping down my arms and chest.

A light pink towel was wrapped around my body, covering my lady parts.

As I stared at myself in the mirror, I frowned.

How do I look older from the beginning of this year? Sure, I’ve endured a lot. But enough to age me?

A sinking feeling formed in the pit of my stomach, and I was suddenly not feeling so well. I was aging so fast, and Joseph wasn’t aging at all. He would never age again. He was going to stay the same handsome, fit, and young man he’s always been. While I’m going to age into an old woman.

My face grew red at the image.

Would Joseph still love me?

I finished drying and getting dressed. Once my teeth were brushed and my hair was pulled back into a ponytail, I turned and left the bathroom.

Joseph was already dressed and in the kitchen. I could smell the incredible scent of bacon sizzling on the pan as I walked down the hallway that led into the living room. My backpack sat on the ground in front of the couch. My journal sat on the coffee table.

I had to present my journal to Dean Miller and the thought sent a wave of fear through my body. I wasn’t sure why. Most of my entries were already on the blog for anyone to see. A lot of my personal stories are what got me the most views and followers. Once I showed this to the dean, he would know for sure that Joseph wasn’t the one who wrote my posts.

But there’s something panicky about someone reading my personal journal without it being on my blog. I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and shoved my journal into my backpack.

“Hungry?”

I whipped around to find Joseph standing at the entryway to the kitchen. He was leaning against the door frame, and he had a look that I wasn’t sure I recognized in his eyes. But his lips lifted, and he gave me a genuine and gentle smile which, as always, made my heart flip in my chest.

I nodded.

“Starving,” I told him, but then I felt my cheeks flush when I realized I wasn’t exactly sure what I was hungry for.

Food.

Or him.

As if he could read my mind, his eyes darkened, and his smile grew mischievous.

“Easy now, sweet girl,” he said with a low and husky tone. “Plenty of that later. But for right now, you need food.”

I nodded, grinning at him as I joined him in the kitchen.

He had everything set up on the kitchen table already. Both our plates were covered in eggs and bacon. There was coffee and orange juice on the table as well and my stomach began to growl loudly.

I sat at the table, and he sat across from me, watching me intently as I studied the food on my plate.

“Is everything okay?” He finally asked after a short pause.

I nodded.

“Everything is perfect,” I told him, and I truly meant that.

“Good, so eat up,” he instructed, pointing to my plate with his fork. “We have to get to the school soon.”

I smiled at him and picked up my fork. As I started eating, the thoughts of my appearance started to weigh on me once again; the thought that I was going to get older. There was nothing I could do about that. It was part of life and even though I’m learning that I might not be mortal, I knew I was still going to age and Joseph wasn’t.

He was going to stay the same attractive man that sat across from the table right now.

He met my eyes and a crease formed between his brows as he studied my face.

“What is it?” He asked, cocking his head to the side.

I swallowed the bit of food that remained in my mouth, and I decided to just tell him the truth about what I was feeling and thinking.

“Will you still love me when I’m old?”

His brows rose.

“What?”

I felt my face warming under the intensity of his stares.

“I’m going to get older, Joseph. It’s already happening. I’m older than I was at the beginning of this year, and I can tell from my appearance…” I told him, staring down at my plate. “Will you still love me when I get too old?”

He was quiet, and, for a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to answer me. Maybe he realized that I was right and that a relationship with me wasn’t probable because of my aging.

I had an idea, but I knew he wasn’t going to like it and he would probably say no if I suggested it. But it was on the tip of my tongue, and I wanted to say it.

He reached across the table and placed his pointer finger and middle finger under my chin, lifting my head and forcing my eyes to meet his.

“Tessa, there’s nothing in this world that can happen that would cause me to not love you.”

He spoke with such seriousness that it made my heart flip in my chest.

“Even when I’m elderly?” I whispered and at that moment, tears began to fill my eyes.

A hint of a smile appeared on his perfect lips.

“I will take care of you and love you even if you need a cane to get around and wear diapers,” he reassured me.

My face felt like it was on fire as embarrassment slammed into me. Just the thought was humiliating.

He frowned and pulled his hand away.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“I want to still be attractive to you like you are to me,” I said in barely a whisper.

I had stopped eating and I was now just moving the eggs around my plate with a frown on my face. I wasn’t hungry anymore and I was feeling worried about the future.

“You’ll always be attractive to me,” he said, furrowing his brows together. “Tessa, you don’t need to worry about the future. I’m never going to stop loving you. You belong to me, and I take care of what is mine.”

My eyes widened at his words.

I belong to him?

He’s never told me that before and I the very thought made my lower abdomen warm.

From his words alone, I felt a surge of confidence coursing through my veins.

“Maybe it’s time you made me a blood slave,” I said, lifting my gaze to meet his.

“I already told you—”

“I know what you said,” I said, stopping his words before he could reject my idea. “But Joseph, this might be the only way we can be together for an eternity.”

“The only way for you to be a blood slave and not rot is if I drink your blood regularly,” he said, narrowing his eyes at me. “Blood slaves with masters who don’t drink from them will go crazy and eventually rot.”

“Then drink from me, Joseph,” I said, hating the urgency and desperation in my voice. “Is that so wrong?”

“I don’t drink blood, Tessa. Not anymore…”

“But you could drink mine,” I said, tears welling in my eyes. “I already belong to you; so, why not make that official.”

He leaned back in his seat as he studied me. His eyes scanned my every feature.

He eventually sighed and stood up, taking his plate with him.

“We need to get going,” he murmured, walking his plate to the sink.

I stared at him with a gaping mouth.

“Joseph—”

“I’ll think about it,” he said, cutting off my words.

I closed my mouth and nodded; that was good enough.

At least for now.

…..

Joseph and I got to the school fairly early. I drove, of course, while he hid from the sun in the back seat. There weren’t many students at the school when we arrived. It was Friday, so I only had one more exam left and then I would have to wait to see if I passed them.

Anxiety boiled in the pit of my stomach, but I ignored it and took a deep breath as we walked to Dean Miller’s office.

His receptionist glanced up from her computer to peer at us.

“Is Dean Miller in his office?” Joseph asked.

She nodded but her frown remained.

“Yes, but I’m afraid he’s busy. Did you have an appointment to speak with him?”

“No; but he’s going to want to talk to us,” Joseph said, narrowing his eyes at her.

She opened her mouth to protest again, but he placed his hands on her desk and leaned close to her. I felt uncomfortable by his nearness to this woman. Their faces were so close, I thought he was going to kiss her.

Just when I was about to say something to break up this odd moment, he spoke in such a low tone that I almost didn’t hear him.

“Tell him we are waiting to speak with him,” he ordered.

Her pupils grew large from his command and once they shrunk back to their normal size, she nodded, lifting her phone to her ear.

“Dean Miller,” she said softly. “Joseph Evergreen and Tessa Campbell are here to see you. They say it’s urgent.”

There was a moment of pause and I found myself holding my breath.

“Yes, sir,” she said into the phone before hanging up. “You can enter.”

Joseph straightened himself and offered her a smile.

“Thank you,” he said, bowing his head slightly to her before turning to me and taking my hand into his.

I flushed at the gesture and allowed him to pull me into the dean’s office.

Dean Miller sat at his desk with his hands entwined in front of him. There was a bit of concern in his eyes when we walked into his office, but he didn’t falter.

“What can I do for you?” He asked, staring between the two of us.

“There’s something you need to see,” Joseph said, placing a manilla folder on the desk and pushing it in his direction.

He frowned at it.

“What is this?”

“Evidence that Jeremy Evans isn’t as honest as he seems. He shouldn’t even be at this school. There’s a list of all his assignments, including his cover letter that got him into this school, I’m sure you can get copies of each assignment easily. But there are also links to the original documents that he stole and acted as if they are his own.”

Dean Miller’s eyes widened as he stared at the documents that Joseph provided.

“How did we allow this?” Dean Miller whispered, shaking his head.

I wasn’t sure if he was talking to us or himself, but we remained quiet as Dean Miller went to his computer. I’m assuming he was looking up one of Jeremy’s assignments and then finding out where he plagiarized it from using the links Joseph provided.

It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for and then his entire body froze.

He sighed and grabbed his phone, bringing it to his cheek.

“Laura, can you have Jeremy Evans come to my office once he gets to school?” Dean Miller asked his receptionist, his tone darkening and anger seeping into his eyes.

She said something that I couldn’t hear and then he hung up.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” Dean Miller said, sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. Then he paused and looked between the two of us. “Was there anything else?”