𝘊𝘙𝘐𝘔𝘚𝘖𝘕 ° 𝘑𝘈𝘚𝘗𝘌𝘙 𝘏𝘈𝘓𝘌 ✓

18 | HOME RUN |

ON SATURDAY MORNING, Rory was finishing up her last assignment for calculus when a rush of an unexpected breeze filled her room, lightly ruffling her hair. She didn't have to look up to see the blond vampire in her room. She didn't pay him any mind as she worked out the equation in front of her.

"How was your night?" she asked as soon as she set her pencil down.

They had spent it apart—Jasper desperately needed to hunt and Rory had some school work to finish.

While they were both well aware of each other's importance to each other, neither were the type to be attached at the hip. Their relationship was still relatively new and both had been used to being on their own. Once upon a time not too long ago, both had individually sworn to be content with being alone. Then they met.

"It went well enough." Jasper didn't give any further details of his hunting trip and Rory didn't pry. She looked up to see his eyes were a back to a bright, golden shade and the dark, purplish eye bags had faded. She happily smiled at the sight. His eyes scanned over her work, wordlessly fixing it to her gratitude. "And yours?"

"As soon as you finish going over that, I'll be caught up on everything," Rory sighed happily. "Only half a month of school left and we're all done." No more waking up at six am, she would have all the time in the world. She glanced at Jasper, wondering how that actually felt.

Jasper realized they had never spoken of any plans after graduation. He had initially planned to pay his old friends down south a visit while Edward and Alice finished up school and Emmett and Rose were traveling. Then Rory's abrupt arrival in his life changed everything.

"Do you have any plans for college?" Jasper rose one brow curiously. "It seems the topic has escaped us," he chuckled, moving to sit on the edge of the desk.

Rory shrugged. "I was gonna take a gap year, figure things out since I'm graduating early. I have plenty of time. And college is expensive."

"I could pay for whatever college you wanted to go," Jasper immediately offered. "I could even convince Harvard to take you in by next week, if you wanted, of course." His brow puckered arrogantly, fully confident in using his abilities to benefit Rory and get her in whatever school she wished. Jasper wanted to ensure she was well acquainted with the full human experience.

Rory pursed her lips. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm okay. If I was accepting donations, I'd use it to travel to Europe or somewhere far away. There's this art internship thing in Florence, so if you really want to be my sugar daddy..." she giggled at his expression.

Jasper frowned, "Florence, Italy?"

"Yeah?" Rory looked at him incredulously. "Did you think I meant the Florence in Kentucky?Hah. Italy is where it's at, babe."

He was quiet for a minute, his mind churning over a matter Rory had no idea of.

"What's wrong?" Rory rested her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"It's nothing," His teeth flashed in a reassuring smile. "I'm just overthinking things."

"As per usual," Rory rolled her eyes, but her expression was understanding. She met his eyes seriously, "Hey, don't worry. I don't need to know everything. Just go with the flow, Jasper."

Jasper let out a small nod, looking at her with a peculiar expression in his golden eyes.

Rory eyed the perfection that was Jasper Hale sitting on the edge of her desk like some naughty school boy fantasy, complete with the slacks and white button down, his profile all sharp edges and soft eyes. "My mom's out of town for like the next week." Her fingers danced along the seam of his button-down shirt suggestively.