𝘊𝘙𝘐𝘔𝘚𝘖𝘕 ° 𝘑𝘈𝘚𝘗𝘌𝘙 𝘏𝘈𝘓𝘌 ✓

21 | SLEEPING BEAUTY |

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IT WAS TOO BRIGHT.

Rory felt the sun shine upon her tanned, golden skin. She was wearing something loose and thin, a white gauze-like dress—clothing she hadn't worn in a long time since moving to Forks.

She couldn't remember the last time she felt so light. So free of worry and anxiety. Her heart felt full and her soul sang in the heat of the paradise she found herself in. She felt no pain, in fact her body felt a little numb.

She was lying on soft grass, basking in the warmth of the rising sun. Her head rested in someone's lap as the person brushed his long flawless hands through her long locks of black, shiny waves.

Rory opened her eyes to an angel.

"Where are we?" she asked Jasper, her eyes confused by their surroundings. They were sitting underneath a large oak tree in the middle of the forests of Forks. Vivid greens filled her peripheral and a bright, cloudless sky of blue hung over her.

This isn't real, she realized. Forks could never be this dry and sunny for so long. Also, Jasper wasn't sparkling as he should have been in such direct sun rays.

Jasper smiled sadly at her. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

Rory frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It was never supposed to be this way."

Then it all dawned on her. The baseball game. Driving to Phoenix. James phone call. The ballet studio. Pain. Darkness.

Then light.

Despite knowing what had led her to this moment, Rory felt happy in the arms of her Jasper. He seemed upset, no doubt feeling unnecessarily guilty for what happened to her regardless to the fact she had an inkling of what her fate lied in the second she agreed to go to the ballet studio with Bella.

"I think we both know that's a lie. I would have sacrificed my life for Bella the same as I would have for you or anyone I know. I came from a broken place, Jasper, a dark abyss without any hope for the future or life itself. Then, I met you. I finally learned what love is. And this town, Forks, became my home. My true family."

"You are my home, my family, my heart." He traced over her features, burning them into his brain though they had already been since they met months ago.

Rory smiled sadly and moved her hand over where his heart once beat. "And I'll be yours forever there."

"I never imagined forever would be so short," Jasper whispered, his face twisted in pain. The mask he once used to shield his feelings was long discarded.

Rory raised her hand to cup his cold, sculpted cheek. "Our forever is this moment." And she could accept it. She was never destined to become an immortal like the Cullens.

Jasper had seen so many years yet he had learned so much from this beautiful, kind, human girl in such little time. His time with Rory was a blink of an eye in the life of an immortal, but it had been the most precious months of his existence. It was all worth it to have loved her within a season than to not have loved her at all. But it all still hurt so much, her fate, his tragedy.