08 | CLOSER |

UNFORTUNATELY, FORKS' BOUT of lovely weather quickly ran out. By Wednesday, it was storming hard and bringing a whole new meaning to 'April showers bring May flowers'.

Fortunately, that also meant the Cullens were back.

Rory walked into first period AP Spanish to see the two perfect specimens sitting primly at their desks in the back of the classroom. Rory couldn't stop the grin that grew at the sight of the god-like blond who had met her gaze just as intensely. Time disappeared for a few moments as Jasper Hale and Rory Aden met eyes—gold on hazel brown.

"Rory!" Alice Cullen beamed at her as she sat down behind Jasper. "Good morning!"

"Hello, Alice," Rory greeted her cordially. She was still a bit miffed by Alice's avoidance the past few weeks. Their friendship really wasn't given any time to grow. Alice smiled sadly at Rory before giving her attention to their teacher who had asked a question.

"Good morning, Rory," Jasper's smooth honey tone was music to her ears. He had turned in his seat to face her.

"Jasper. I'm glad you finally decided to show up after standing me up Monday," Rory said sarcastically, her chin propped up in the palm of her hand as her eyes met Jasper's bright golden ones.

He winced and looked at her with puppy dog eyes. "My apologies, ma'am. I had no way of letting you know that our family trip had been extended due to the good weather."

His expression was stuck between charming and sheepish. He was adorable. Rory's pursed lips twitched.

Rory stifled a laugh. "Is that your smooth way of asking for my number?"

"...yes." Jasper responded hesitantly. He was surprised at his own honesty. He only had a cellphone at his family's insistence...just in case something happened like he went off the bend and attacked someone. Maybe it would be nice to use the phone for once. It might not necessarily be a good thing but it would be nice.

He watched as Rory rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Jasper turned back around awkwardly. He had messed that up. It made sense that she would reject the half-question. He mentally berated himself and felt somewhat relieved he had no idea what she was feeling because the outright disgust and rejection would be painful.

Until a small ripped piece of white paper landed on the corner of his desk. A number was scrawled in elegant penmanship and a small note that read 'I don't like giving second chances, Hale. Considering this is your third or forth, you must really be something'.

Jasper couldn't stop the brilliant smile that grew on his face. He took a glance back at the pretty brunette who had a blank expression on her face. He almost missed her wink.

This time, when the bell rang, Jasper didn't immediately shoot out the door like usual. He waited for Rory to gather her things (and for Alice to go away) and walked by her side to their next class. They both ignored how their fingers brushed each other, not bothering to correct their closeness.

"How was your weekend, Rory?" He seemed intent on her answer and whatever else she was going to say.

She quirked one brow slightly at his belated inquiry. "It's Wednesday, my dude."

Jasper simply sighed. "Humor me."

"Well on Saturday, I went to La Push Beach on the rez. Quite boring because everyone went surfing or walked along the beach or hit on me," Rory snorted at the last part while Jasper's face stiffened. Her face lit up at her next thought. "I also played with my new dog—Orion—she's the sweetest and I love her," Rory gushed at the thought of the adopted German Shepherd. Rory took one glance at his slightly lost expression as he listened to her intently.

"You've never had a pet...haven't you?"

His head tilted, his curls gracefully flopping to one side, as he thought long and hard, "...I had a horse a long time ago," his brow had furrowed slightly as he concentrated on the memory.

"Back in Texas?" Because Rory can't quite imagine a horse in the damp green soup that made up Forks.

He nodded with a small lift of his lips. "Yes. It was a family horse though. So I don't know if you'd consider him a pet."

"Aw. A horse? You must've been a right lil' cowboy growing up then?" Rory could imagine him as an adorable curly-haired blond in cowboy boots and hat.

"In some sense of the word," Jasper chuckled.

"You and Rosalie must miss Texas," Rory commented.

Jasper hid a frown. It was easy to forget of his human alias whenever he was near Rory, even though she was a human. Something about her just made him feel normal. Like he was himself for once; just a regular 164 year old vampire talking to a sweet and beautiful seventeen year old human girl. Er—maybe there was a better way to explain it.

"It has been a while," Jasper shrugged with a smile full of secrets. He turned the conversation back onto Rory, "You must miss Texas as well?"

Jasper's golden eyes caught the way her smile froze suddenly and he desperately wished he knew what she was feeling.

"I miss my childhood, yes," Rory answered instead, plaintively avoiding the actual question. "Forks is a breath of fresh air."

If Jasper could keep his secrets, she could, too.

"I do appreciate Forks," Jasper replied with a smirk, "Better weather. And better company." He looked down at her pointedly and his chest almost felt as warm as the blush that bloomed on her cheeks.

"Very smooth, cowboy," Rory hummed as they walked into Calculus.

Jasper stopped in his footsteps at her nonchalant use of a nickname. Rory turned back at him with a raised brow. He smiled and shook his head as he followed her into the class.

It was at lunch that the change was evident. Jessica and Rory walked into the boisterous cafeteria and headed to their usual table. As always, Rory found her eyes on the blonde Apollo who sat amongst his siblings with untouched full trays.

"Why don't you just go sit with him?" Jessica insisted as she watched the pair eye each other for the millionth time.

Rory's expression betrayed no emotion as she rolled her eyes and glanced at the interested few tuning in on the turn in conversation. "Why should I go sit with him? He has legs, he could join me if he wanted too."

"You're so stubborn," Jess huffed. "This is like preschool all over again. You like him. He likes you. Neither will talk to each other."

Rory's face grew hot. "I don't like him—we're just friends," she insisted despite her heart pounding.

"Sure, Rory." Everyone collectively didn't agree with the girl's claim.

"Besides," A slow smile grew on Bella's face who had been looking at the same table Rory was, "I'm pretty sure he likes you."

Rory sputtered and looked up to see where her friend's gaze was. It was like a scene from a movie or a GQ photoshoot. Half the cafeteria watched as a certain tall blonde adonis gracefully glided straight for Rory's table.

Jasper Hale stopped beside her. Rory slowly turned her head until their eyes met.

Without breaking from her eyes, Jasper addressed Rory's friends. "Excuse me, would it be alright if I stole Rory away for a moment?"

Angela blinked.

Mike, Eric and Tyler all glared.

Bella fought a small grin.

Jessica's jaw dropped.

"Oh my god," Rory muttered as she gathered her things quickly and stood up from her seat, which meant she was standing directly next to Jasper's cool body. "You're a bigger drama queen than Alice. Let's go, Hale."

Rory avoided everyone's stare as she practically ran out of the room with Jasper all too easily following behind, only furthering the whispers and stares. He was in an oddly hyper mood like the crowd's energy transferred to him too. It wasn't a bad thing, just different for the normally aloof guy.

They made it out of the cafeteria and into the empty halls. Forks high school was so small it needed only one lunch break for the entire student body and staff. Hundreds of eyes followed the pair through the windows from the cafeteria.

It was a good minute until they were alone with only the soft exhales of breathing filling the silence. They finally paused in the hall, shoulders just barely touching but close enough for Rory's warmth to overwhelm Jasper's senses and for Jasper's intoxicating smell and coolness to engulf Rory.

Jasper let out an uncharacteristic but adorable snicker at Rory's deer-in-headlights look as she processed the unexpected spectacle that unfurled. She darted her eyes to his mischievous expression and paused. She narrowed her gaze at him incredulously.

His mouth twitched.

"You totally planned that! You jerk!" Rory exclaimed in realization with a laugh.

In her fit of giggles, she somehow clumsily stumbled directly into his side, a collision which only resulted in a loud obscene swear as Rory reflexively shook the hand that had fronted most of the blow.

"Holy fuck, dude, is your arm made out of metal or something because fuck!"

"Shit." Jasper immediately grabbed the bruised hand with his ice cold one without thinking. "Are you alright?" He tried to regretfully pull back but her uninjured hand stopped him. She placed it back on the swelling skin without a word.

She was thankful for his skin's strange temperature as it soothed the red hot pain that radiated from her hand.

"I'm so sorry, Rory," Jasper frowned as he held her hot hand. It suddenly occurred to him that he wasn't even bothered by being alone with her in such close approximation. His throat barely even burned. He looked down to meet her soft brown eyes.

"Don't apologize, it's my fault." Rory shook her head as Jasper inspected her knuckles which were already swelling.

"I should've been more careful," Jasper frowned.

"Bella's supposed to be the clumsy one, not me, but look where we are," Rory snorted, brushing his negative comment off. "I really don't wanna go to the emergency room. My mom would freak again..." She noticed the way he carefully examined her and her heart melted. Jasper's molten gaze intensely met her hazel eyes.

A moment passed.

"What do you think I should do?" She wasn't just talking about the potential injury anymore.

"Well, I don't think it's broken," he murmured, his cool breath spread goosebumps up her arms. Rory tried not to think about how close his lips were to her skin or how nice it was for him to be so gentle with her hand with his.

"That's good," Rory replied just as softly, not even paying attention to the pain nor the coldness as she stared at his face.

"You should probably avoid doing that in the future," Jasper said. "For both of our sakes."

"You should avoid purposely making a scene in front of the entire school," Rory raised a brow. "For both of our sakes."

He lowered her hand from his eyesight but didn't let it go as it bridged them together. She moved her hand and Jasper was slightly anxious until she intertwined their fingers. A smile crept on his features in an ethereal way.

He raised one brow, "You don't like being the center of attention." It wasn't a question.

"Not anymore," Rory snorted. She met his eyes again. "Next time you wanna rendezvous, text me before you add fuel to the fire of Forks high schools hot gossip. " She tapped the tip of his perfectly formed nose with a small smile.

"I'll think about it," he said with a smirk.

Rory began wandering down the halls, tired of standing in the middle of the hall. "So...how do the sibs feel about you ditching them to hang out with lil ol' me?" She was curious because the Cullens were never apart and Rory was pretty sure Jasper had broken some unspoken rule.

"Does it really matter?" He asked the girl who didn't even care how cold or unnaturally stone hard his hand was as she pulled him along unnecessarily. Jasper already knew he was helplessly tethered to Rory Aden.

"Nah. I already know," Rory giggled.

Jasper grinned. "Do you now?" he asked playfully, gesturing for her to go on.

Rory nodded. "I doubt you told them your impromptu plan. Your twin kinda hates me, Emmett's probably glad you grew a pair, Eddie is jealous he didn't corner Bella off first, and Alice is excited because she ships us."

She was pretty much accurate. Jasper didn't really tell his family what he was doing until he was halfway across the cafeteria. He did however feel each of their reactions. Rosalie was of course furious that another brother was consorting with the humans, Emmett was cautious but glad, Edward already knew what Jasper was doing and was more envious of his control, and Alice was excited to witness another future become more solid and clear.

Jasper smiled. "Ships us?"

Rory blushed slightly and looked ahead, "Don't worry about it. Anyways," Rory was a master at changing the subject, "is there a real reason for all this?"

"Is there a real reason for anything?"

"Don't go all psychological on me, Hale," Rory rolled her eyes. "Because we actually do need to work on the history project."

"We have three weeks left," Jasper pointed out. "No offense, but I thought you would—"

"—Procrastinate?" Rory chuckled, "I am graduating a year early, you know. And I take all AP classes—most of them with you—so I'm exceptionally efficient."

"Oh," Jasper looked a bit embarrassed, "Most teenagers procrastinate."

Rory shrugged because she refused to take the cliched 'I'm not most teens' opportunity that had presented itself. She slipped her phone from the pocket with the hand not intertwined with Jasper's to check to time. "I'd say twenty minutes is plenty of time to get started. Library's always open. And you can't ditch me now."

Jasper looked down at her softly. The corner of his mouth lifted. "Lead the way, ma'am."

Rory's good mood lasted the whole day until she got home.

Once she had hopped out of Bella's truck and walked through the old doors of her home alone, she was struck with a sudden spell of emptiness. She closed the door mechanically and then dropped to the ground like her facade.

It was often and expected for the negative feelings to make their appearance in this way; Rory had been dealing with it since before they even moved to Forks. Back in San Antonio, while her mom was busy making funeral plans and suing teenage boys, Rory was left alone in the darkness with her thoughts.

She had no idea why she was like this. Well, scratch that, she knew why but she didn't want to be a burden anymore.

She was broken, except she refused to let any of the kings horses and men put herself together again in the form of therapy and medication like they tried to in San Antonio.

Rory was a bonafide actress. She convinced the countless doctors of her picture perfect mental state and got rid of the medicine and the therapy despite needing it (the insurance only covered so much). So, she was basically almost completely fine.

Almost.

Almost is what necessitated the facade she put up 99% of the day. That 1%, as small as it was, made it's cold, unyielding presence known the moment Rory was alone and weak.

Except, now, she wasn't entirely alone. Orion seemed to sense Rory's sadness and tried to lick the pain away or at least distract Rory.

"C'mon, Ror," she muttered to herself, "you're better than this." Rory numbly petted the soft fur of her dog.

Despite her intrusive thoughts telling her the opposite, Rory was trying her best to be better. If not for her mental state, then for her mother. Because God knows her mother was stressed enough as it was, working as many hours as possible to provide for them and pay off debts from San Antonio and mourn their tragedies and the last thing Rory's mom needed was to worry about an emotionally unstable teenager.

Buzz buzz

Frowning in confusion, Rory searched her side until her hand found the rectangular shaped box that vibrated, pulled it out and fumbled with the device until the bright screen flooded the dark foyer she sat in. She wiped her eyes and squinted at the notification that appeared.

unknown number

Hello, Rory. This is Jasper Hale.

Her mouth twitched slightly.

Error #401 The customer you are trying to reach is not available. For more information go to AT&T.com

Jasper Hale

Is that so?

Rory stifled a laugh. She knew it was quite mean, but at least he was playing along.

Error #401 The customer you are trying to reach is not available. For more information go to AT&T.com

Ring

Ring

Ring

Rory gaped at the screen. Her heart warmed, melting the cold icicles that had been trying to tear her down. Just one text message from Jasper Hale was enough to lift her mood. Rory sighed defeatedly. She was helpless when it came to him.

Jasper Hale is Calling

Well, he was persistent. Rory smiled softly. Shakily, she raised the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" The familiar deep and honey-like voice of Jasper reached her ears and warmed her insides.

She couldn't fight the mischievous urge . "Error #40–"

"Rory!" Jasper said exasperatedly.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop now," Rory giggled, imagining the frustrated furrow of Jasper's brows and the pout of his perfectly wine stained lips. "I'm sorry, Hale, I just couldn't resist."

"Seems like we both have trouble with that," Jasper replied effortlessly.

"You're especially smooth today, cowboy," Rory's hand fiddled with the fur of Orion to distract her from her anxiety. "Are you on something?"

"No," he denied. "Just my natural charisma."

Rory stifled a laugh. This was the same guy who, until she arrived, only spoke to his adopted siblings and his teachers. "I find that hard to believe."

"You'd be surprised."

"Trust me, I know. You are full of them, Jasper Hale," Rory slowly grinned.