Jasper didn't think he could possibly be any happier.

Well, this was partly a lie, as one thing indeed beat watching and following (Y/n) around, and this was interacting with her. But it had been a week since Jasper had started following her around and memorizing her routine, and he still hadn't found it in himself to approach her and manage a proper conversation.

But could anyone blame him?

Jasper had never been one for small talk or socializing. He had understood very quickly that most people didn't want anything to do with him if it wasn't work related. Most people either frowned upon him and silently mocked him behind his back for his lack of Obsessive symptoms, or feared him because of his position as his father's successor and the potential power he held. Without even mentioning the suspicions some people had when it came to his role in the mysterious disappearances or deaths of some undesirable political figures. For this though, Jasper couldn't really blame them, as he was indeed the perpetrator of these.

Still, as far as he could remember, Jasper had only ever had one close friend, Penelope. She was the only one who had stuck close to him through thick and thin, the only one who hadn't turned her back on him when rumors had started spreading about him being Uninfected or a deficient Obsessive.

And before his darling, Jasper had been perfectly content with just Penelope, so he had never tried his hand at socializing or making friends. Not only this, but his sweet (Y/n) was so beautiful and so utterly perfect, Jasper was terrified of making a fool of himself once in front of her.

Even now as she did nothing but grocery shop for her grandfather, Jasper could barely contain the adoration swelling in his chest as he observed her from afar.

A tired yawn slipped from his throat, a tell tale sign of the many hours of sleep he had missed since the start of his infatuation. And Jasper knew he probably looked like a mess, the dark bags under his eyes growing bigger by the days. But if it was to watch his darling? Jasper was more than happy to skip on some needed rest. He still needed to work after all, and considering he spent the better half of his day watching (Y/n) go through her daily routine, he had to catch up on his work late at night.

Something that hadn't gone unnoticed by his father, Robert and Penelope. But alas Jasper was way too happy with stalking (Y/n) and admiring her from afar to care much about the concern he elicited in those closest to him.

Still, Jasper knew that at some point he'd have to tell his father about (Y/n), but not before he gathered the courage to approach his darling first. Something Jasper intended on doing soon enough.

As soon as he had gathered the courage to do so, that is.

Meanwhile, a few feet away from Jasper, (Y/n) remained blissfully unaware of her own predicament.

She smiled at the fruits and vegetables vendor as he handed her a bag full of apples she had bought specifically for Tobias. Marcus did say that Tobias loved them and (Y/n) had caught him snacking on them from time to time. She knew this probably wouldn't be enough to get herself on his good side again, but she hoped this would at least serve to make him resent her less.

She turned away from the stall to carry on with the next ingredients on the grocery list Marcus had scribbled down, unable to suppress a smile.

So far, things had gone pretty smoothly and (Y/n) was proud to say that she had navigated her way through the city without a hitch. She had even managed to smile at the guard standing in front of the covered market's entrance and hand over her ID without showing how scared she was of him finding out it was a fake.

Now, she was almost done with grocery shopping and was looking forward to making her way back home and telling Marcus all about her first trip to the city as a grown independent woman.

Gosh, this feels so good. And truly it did. To realize that she was perfectly capable of handling herself without the help of neither Tobias nor Marcus proved to be a huge ego boost. But it wasn't only that. It was in fact the first time (Y/n) was doing anything by herself at all.

Back in the Uninfected Community, (Y/n) had never been granted the freedom to go grocery shopping on her own or leave the house because she had decided she wanted to. Her freedom had always been chained to her mother's authority.

Now things were different though, and (Y/n) hated to admit it, but she kind of liked it. In fact, she really liked it.

She finally felt like her own person, rather than an extension of her mother and Grey.

She felt like (Y/n).

"Looks like I've got everything." She said under her breath, scanning over the grocery list to see that she had indeed completed her task. Which meant that it was now time to head back home.

She just had to make her way through the crowd and find her way out. Which was admittedly easier said than done. And apparently (Y/n) mustn't have been the only one struggling to push through the crowd because a dark haired girl around the same age as her harshly got bumped into before losing her balance and falling to the ground, the content of her grocery bags emptying around her.

The man who had bumped into her quickly apologized, but did not bother to help, and it didn't look like anyone else was willing to help the poor girl either. Well, then again, she was kind of insulting the man and cursing at his entire bloodline.

(Y/n) guessed this mustn't make for a very approachable figure.

And she knew she probably shouldn't have stepped in to help the dark skinned girl either, not when she had promised herself to stay as far away from other people's business as possible. But guilt needled at her chest as she observed the girl begrudgingly gathering her belongings by herself.

So instead of idly standing by and doing nothing, (Y/n) decided to step in and help.

She bent down to pick up an avocado that had rolled all the way over to her and handed it back to the girl, a friendly although nervous smile on her lips.

"Hey, this is yours, isn't it?"

The dark haired girl looked up with a glare, snatching the avocado from (Y/n)'s hand before standing up to her feet and stuffing it back in one of her bags. She grumbled a quiet 'thank you' under her breath, dark brown eyes scanning (Y/n) from head to toe.

"What? Something on my face?" She spat inquisitively.

(Y/n) flinched at her tone, only then realizing that she had probably been staring. Gosh she had just met this girl and she had already made things socially awkward.

"No!" (Y/n) hurriedly answered, "Sorry, I just didn't know what to say and I guess I'm not really good at interacting with others."

Gosh, she was making things worse, wasn't she? What was she supposed to do or say? (Y/n) didn't know, but it was obvious that she was making a fool of herself judging by the way the dark skinned girl stared at her like she had grown three heads.

"Yeah, I can see that." The girl said with a seemingly annoyed expression, "Anyways, thanks for the avocado, I guess."

And before (Y/n) could say anything else, the girl was already walking away and leaving her in the dust.

Well, this had somehow gone worse than (Y/n) had thought it would. But she guessed there was no use pondering over this anymore, as she doubted she'd ever stumble upon this girl again. Rather than lingering around in her own puddle of social awkwardness, she should probably go back home before Marcus gets worried.

With that in mind, (Y/n) made her way through the crowd, and out of Jasper's sight whose heart deflated as she disappeared through the mass of strangers.

Jasper hastily made his way to where his darling had been, desperately scanning the area for a glimpse of her. He was supposed to follow her home too! He should have known that standing so far away from her was a bad idea, this was bound to happen. Now he had no idea where she had gone off to.

He could try to walk around the market and see if he caught sight of her, but Jasper knew this would probably lead to nothing considering the number of people obscuring his vision. By the time Jasper had finished his tour of the place, (Y/n) would have probably already left. His best bet at finding his darling was probably to wait outside the market for the moment she'd step out and choose to go home.

With that thought in mind, Jasper took a step forward, only to be interrupted by a familiar voice calling out his name.

"Jasper!" Penelope waved at him with a bright smile, latching her arms around him as she hugged him from behind. "What are you doing here?"

Under any other circumstances, Jasper would have been happy to hear Penelope and see her, but right now all he could think about was the fact that the longer his interaction with her dragged on, the higher the chances of (Y/n) slipping through his fingers. And if he waited any longer, he wouldn't be able to follow his darling home and keep on admiring her.

So instead of answering as he usually would, he shook her off and away from him, guilt pricking at his heart as he caught sight of Penelope's disheartened expression.

"Sorry, Pen. I really need to hurry. See you later!"

He hoped Penelope wouldn't resent him too much for this. In true Possessive fashion, she tended to hate it when Jasper placed his attention anywhere else but on her. If he explained the situation to her though, Jasper was sure she'd understand and forgive him.

Unfortunately for Jasper though, he hadn't been quick enough, and it seemed like he had definitely lost sight of his darling. But maybe this should have been the least of his worries.

As the first seeds of doubt had been planted in Penelope's mind, that maybe Jasper wasn't as hers as she had thought he was.

































































































(Y/n) quietly mused to herself as she made her way back home, content with the gentle sunlight caressing her skin and the light breeze blowing around her. With close to no people around, she had all the freedom she wanted to be herself and not care about possibly attracting unwanted attention.

But much to her disappointment, her peace was short-lived.

Before she could take another step, a firm hand wrapped around her wrist and tugged her forward. A gasp falling from her lips as she tried to tug back.

And (Y/n) would have screamed if she hadn't recognised the familiar figure and head of brown messy hair in front of her.

"Tobias?" She called, to no avail, Tobias didn't even turn towards her to acknowledge her, simply keeping on dragging her down the street and on their way home.

Concern tugged at (Y/n)'s heart as she silently followed after him, staring at his back.

What was he doing here when he was supposed to be at work? And why was he going out of his way to drag her back home?

Was everything okay? Had something happened to Marcus while she was away? Had she done something wrong?

One thing was for sure though, Tobias was angry. And not the kind of hot anger that had one screaming, but the kind of cold anger that had one silently seething. Which to (Y/n) was all the more scary. Whatever had happened, she was in for a ride.

"Tobias?" She tried again, hoping her voice wouldn't betray the fear trembling inside of her. "What's-"

She couldn't finish her sentence though, air pushed out of her lungs as her back suddenly met the cold surface of a wall. She was no longer in the main street, she had been dragged in a side alleyway, darker and devoid of any other people.

And by the time (Y/n) realized what was happening, she was already caged between Tobias's arms, his forearms laid flat against the wall on both sides of (Y/n)'s head. His features dangerously close to hers as he glared down at her.

(Y/n) stared up at him, mouth agape but unable to mutter a sound, her voice trapped in her throat as Tobias pinned her down under his gaze.

"Don't you dare ask me 'what's wrong'." Tobias said in a voice that had (Y/n)'s blood turning to ice.

Still though, she didn't understand. What had she done wrong? Why was he so worked up and angry at her? She needed to know so that they could work this out.

"I don't understand." She muttered in a voice that was too quiet to come off as confident.

Something softened inside of Tobias at the sound of (Y/n) so vulnerable, at the sight of her averting her eyes to the side to avoid his gaze. But in this moment, nothing could have quelled the frustration and anger bubbling inside of him. Not when his mind kept on reminding him of all the things that could have gone wrong had he not found her.

This time, things had been alright, and (Y/n) had traveled safe. But so many things could have happened. And the idea that Tobias wouldn't have been there to protect her made him sick to his stomach.

(Y/n) needed to understand this. She needed to be reminded that this place wasn't safe for her and that she couldn't just go out and about without a care in the world.

Tobias wouldn't let her. Not when it felt like his very being depended on her safety.

"You don't understand?" Tobias repeated in a low voice that had a shiver rolling down her spine. He leaned down closer, hot breath fanning over her lips, and for a moment (Y/n) swore he was about to kiss her.

But he did no such thing.

Tobias just stayed there, millimeters away from her, all too close to comfort. Rendering (Y/n) all too aware of the burning heat rising to her cheeks. She had never been this close to anyone before, even less so a man.

It was a weird combination of fear and adrenaline that kept (Y/n) stuck in her paralyzed state. Not that she could have run away if she wanted to anyways, Tobias was way stronger than she was, not only because he was man but also because of his unnatural Infected strength.

"See how easy it was for me to overpower you?" He said in a steady voice, holding her gaze. "Anyone else could have done this without as much as batting an eyelash. That is just how weak you are compared to most Infected."

Shame crawled up (Y/n)'s spine at his words, as the point Tobias was trying to make struck her. And at that moment, she really hated him for saying this.

She pushed against him, her hands pressed flat against his chest to try and make him budge. To no avail. There was no overpowering Tobias. Much like there was no way (Y/n) would have been able to fight off an Infected had one decided to make her their target of choice. Either for assault or murder.

"Are you even carrying something to protect yourself with?" Tobias asked indignantly, (Y/n)'s silence enough of an answer.

With an exasperated sigh, Tobias finally stepped away from her, giving (Y/n) some much needed space to breathe. He combed a frustrated hand through his matted locks, heart punching holes through his chest at the realization of just how naive and vulnerable (Y/n) truly was.

Then again, Tobias didn't see why he was even surprised by her lack of self preservation when she had willingly decided to stay in the Infected city in the first place. From then, it should have been clear to Tobias just how ignorant (Y/n) was when it came to the city.

He knew she had probably heard of countless tales about Infected and the danger they represented for Uninfected back in the Uninfected Community, much like he had as a child when he was still part of it. But there was only so much stories could capture, and when time came, Tobias feared it'd be too late for (Y/n) to catch just how big of a gap there was between theory and practice.

His eyes glanced her way, features softening at the sight of her trembling form. Part of him hated himself for scaring her like this, as much as another part of him found his actions necessary. (Y/n) had needed the wake up call.

Still, Tobias hated the lingering fear in (Y/n)'s quivering gaze. He averted his eyes to the side, incapable of seeing any more of his reflection in her eyes.

With a soft sigh, he took the shopping trolley from her hands, gesturing for her to follow him.

"Let's go back home." He said, relief soothing over his guilt as she silently followed after him. But not nearly enough for his heart to stop throbbing in his chest at the idea that (Y/n) now potentially feared him.

That's good. She should fear me. Tobias knew this to be true, to be the best for her.

So why did the thought of (Y/n) scrambling away from him had his heart pressing up to his throat?