It Will Always Be Us (Always #2)

Chapter One

    Jasper was silent. Even as I turned to look at him, I could read nothing from him. His eyes were passive, his lips pressed together in a firm line, his jawline relaxed. His face was blank, like he didn't know how to move it.

    I reached forward with a hand and poked him in the cheek. The corner of his mouth lifted on reflex and then the smirk reached his eyes, they crinkled as he tilted his head.

    "Is there anything you cannot do, Sades?" He broke the silence. There was no anger in his voice. His voice matched the crinkled eye smile, it was light and joyous. "You have to take that job. We can move down to Orlando. That'd be amazingly and fun."

    Jasper's excitement about the move lifted some of the dread from my chest though some lingered.

    "I have to tell my parents, Jas. They won't be happy about it. They'll insist on moving with us, they..." I trailed off before tearing my gaze from his. "They'll want me to stay here where they can watch over my every move. Make sure I shower and eat daily. Make sure I sleep enough. They won't let me go."

    Silence enveloped us once more. Jasper squeezed my hand. "We'll tell them together, Sades, they have to let you go at some point. I know a lot has happened in the past couple of months but if they believe in you like I do, they'll let you go and let you live your life. I'll be by your side and your mom has come around and is now happy that I'm taking care of you instead of her."

    That had been an issue no one had seen coming. While it had been funny and we laugh about it now, it wasn't that way at first. I'm still holding a tiny grudge over the ordeal.

    "For the record I maintain that she was the one trying to test my reflexes. Just because my leg kicked out and pushed her into the pool does not mean it was my fault. She started it."

    Jasper threw his hands up, knocking against the roof of the car. He glared at the roof before grinning at me. "I am not getting into the middle of that one. An ordeal with one Newman woman is enough for me, but two of you?" He shook his head firmly. "That's when I back out and leave you two to it."

    "Wimp." I muttered.

    It was silent for only a minute before the other of us burst out in laughter. Laughter to the point we clutched our stomachs, larger to the point where we couldn't breathe and it was becoming painful. A fun pain though a pain nonetheless.

    We then got out of the car. It surprised me how effortless it now was to move about with the prosthetic leg. I picked up on the temporary leg while in Paris and even more so when we got back home. It wasn't until four months after the accident that I got a permanent official leg that bent at the knee and everything. I could flex the toes with this prosthetic, I could feel small tingles due to some sensors that were installed into it. I never thought I'd have a leg that was more high tech than me. It was fun though, and it came with help from Jasper and Carly.

    Jasper had spent countless hours designing it while Carly brought on a campaign to fund the cost of the leg. While Jasper helped design and build it, it didn't soften the blow of the cost. I was lucky to have people who cared enough for me to get my story out there, help me get a leg that could move with me and become a bear permanent part of me.

    Even now, walking up the steps, while I was still cautious, I was now able to take the steps one at a time instead of two at a time. Jasper no longer felt he had to follow behind me in case I fell, though he still did sometimes because he said he was a guy and the view was great from where he stood. Taking the last steps to the apartment door, I gave a firm stomp with my left foot. Smiling at the tingle I felt.

    Jasper shook his head, an amused expression on his face. My antics always seemed to amuse him, they amused me as well.

    My good mood wasn't made to last however. Once we stepped inside the apartment, I had just sat on the couch when my phone rang from my pocket. I picked it out of the pocket of my hoodie ( really Jasper's hoodie, but mine now) and groaned seeing who the caller was.

    My mother.

    My mood shifted instantly. All the joy I had was gone, wiped away as if it never existed. I didn't want to answer it. I knew what we were going to talk about. Knew all the possible outcomes. It was a fifty-fifty shot she and my dad came over tonight to talk me out of my decision.

    I'd decided with Jasper. We were going to move. We were going to start a life together outside of Rosenwood. My parents would just have to find a way to be okay with that.

    The phone sat in my hand ringing and ringing. Jasper came up from behind me, reached over my shoulder, grabbed the phone and answered it for me. My jaw dropped in shock, I could throw my phone at him. He knew it and skipped back from the couch, running back into the safety of the kitchen.

    "Sadie?"

    The tone of my mother's voice told me all I needed to know. She knew. Carly must have let it slip. Damn her. This was supposed to be my thing to reveal not hers.

    My teeth were grinding as I brought the phone to my ear. "Hi, mom."

    "You were told something today?"

    Were we really getting right into it?

    "Carly called me not long ago, told me that you received incredible news today and you probably couldn't wait to tell me and your father about it."

    You, we were really getting right to it.

    "Yes. I was told something today. Well, offered something." My words were slow, hesitant. I didn't want to break my mother's heart, but I did have my own life to live and figure out. Even if it was somewhere where I hadn't spent my whole life so far. "It was a job offer from one of the highest Pharmaceutical companies in Orlando."

    "Florida?"

    "That's the one."

    This was going to be the moment my mother laid down the hammer. This was when's he was going to tell me to prepare myself for the lock and chain that would always hold me here. My fists clenched against the couch cushions, my knuckles turning a ghostly white. I could faintly hear Jasper's chuckle, I couldn't wait to get my hands around his neck.

    The words that came out of my mother's mouth next nearly caused my heart to stop beating.

    "Your father and I believe you need to take this opportunity, Sadie. This is a once in a lifetime experience for you. It hurts that you'll be so far away, but you'll have Jasper with you and that brings us a strong sense of comfort."

     Was I having a heart attack? Did the apocalypse occur when I had blinked? Did someone from the matrix come and steal my mother, replacing her with some imposter?

    "Sadie?"

    My attention was brought back to the current world. "I'm here."

    My mother laughed. "Good. Come over for dinner, we're celebrating."

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