Worlds Apart

Chapter 26 - The Last First Kiss

Author's Note
While I was writing this a song popped into my head, Fearless by Taylor Swift, especially this one part at about 2:48 or something. Check it out if you want to!
Okay, now to the story.
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My tears wet the hard ground of Desridore, and I don't know how long I laid there, how long it took until Jason found me.
"Ava! Ava!" I heard Jason's yells as I stared up at the sky, the sun starting to hurt my eyes.
I closed them shut, and rolled onto my stomach.
"Ava!" Jason rushed out of the woods and into the clearing.
I sat up, turning to look at him. "Hey," I said softly, a shaky smile on my face.
"Don't run off like that! Do you want to get lost?"
"No." Yes.
"Stop running, Ava."
I shot him a funny look. "I did."
"I meant mentally. I know you're running from the truth, but I know from experience that it will always catch up to you. You can't change the past, you can only change the future."
"I love it when you talk smart," I told him flirtatiously.
Jason grinned. "Hang around with me and maybe you'll be as smart as me one day."
I laughed. "Pfft, as if you'll ever be smarter than me."
"Way to bruise a man's ego."
"What man?" I teased, standing up. I brushed off some of the grass from my outfit, and strode over to him. "How'd you find me, anyway?"
"I guess I was drawn to your presence."
I blushed. "Where's my grandpa?"
Jason frowned. "I'm not sure. I told him I was going after you and he should wait inside his house. He's not that young anymore, you know."
"Yeah." I fell silent as I thought about what Nald told me - about everything. Nothing's the way I first thought... why is my life becoming so confusing? I used to be an ordinary girl with two best friends, a dream of being... What were my dreams, anyway? I never really had anything I wanted to accomplish, no hopes or wishes. Maybe it's for the best that I found out my destiny sooner than later.
Maybe it's time to figure out what I want in life.
Glancing over at Jason, I realized that I needed to do exactly that.
He's all I want - all I'll ever want, and why not go for it when the opportunity was right there in front of me?
I thought about the first day I met him - how his brown eyes shone in the moonlight, the way his smile lit up his face. How he was so nice and passionate about the things he loved.
Jason.
He's my dream, I realized.
Prince Jason of Athosia.
There was nothing more that I've ever wanted so badly. To hold him, to call him mine.
"Jason, do you want to go swimming?" I suggested, a playful smile on my lips as I nodded toward the large pool.
He grinned, and gazed at me, his eyes on mine. "We don't have any swimsuits."
I shrugged, and without thinking twice, I dove into the deep pool of water, fully clothed.
Jason pulled off his shirt and waded in.
"Wussy."
"Shut up, Ava Landersun."
We smiled at each other, and of course he had to ruin the moment by splashing me.
"You jerk!" I shouted, and swam away from Jason, splashing him in the process.
He caught up to me, grabbed me by the shoulders, and looked me in the eye.
For a moment, I felt my breath stop.
Was Jason finally going to kiss me?
A shiver ran through my fingertips as I thought about it.
He leaned closer, and I couldn't breathe.
Yes, yes, yes, YES!
Then Jason pressed down hard on my shoulders, dunking me beneath the water's surface.
I opened my eyes underwater, noticing the water was as clear as today's sky.
I swam to the bottom of the pond, and looked back up at the surface.
Stupid Jason.
I swam back up, and gasped for air as I reached the surface.
"I hate you!" I coughed.
He sent me a mischievous smile. "I doubt that."
Grumbling under my breath, I kicked at Jason, water spraying all over him.
"Ava..."
"Yeah?" I shot him a confused look.
"You're a meanie," he said in a whiny, little kid's voice.
I snickered. "I doubt that."
"Ava, can I ask you a serious question? Do you wish you were born on Earth?" Jason asked, swimming closer to me.
I shivered as our bare skin was touching, and I looked up into his eyes.
I hoisted myself up onto a nearby rock jetting out of the water, and Jason joined me, sitting on the cool surface.
I had to think of that for a minute. Didn't I?
Didn't I wish I was a normal human girl, born on the only planet I thought had been inhabited?
Then again, if I was an ordinary girl, I never would have met Jason, never have known the truth, never would have had this adventure.
I wouldn't go back and change the past for all the money in the world. Because it gave me you.
But I couldn't just say that, could I?
I didn't have to, though. The way Jason smiled at me, told me he knew. Something inside me told me I needed to admit it out loud, though.
"No, Jason. Because-"
He leaned forward, and this time, I knew he wouldn't toy with my feelings. "Because what?"
I swallowed the lump of nervousness in my throat. "Because it gave me you."
Jason's lips came closer, his face hovering no more than an inch or two above mine.
"I like you," I continued, staring into his eyes, the flecks of gold in his beautiful brown.
"I like you too. And I don't know what I'd do if you would disappear on me again. Promise you won't," Jason said softly.
"I promise."
He cupped my face in his hands, and then our lips met, and I was pulled into the sweetest kiss I've ever had. Hard; yet soft, fiery; yet passionate, it was filled with our hunger for each other, but was also filled with love. It was as if fireworks and explosions went off behind us - I knew that it was right. That we were right. It was only Jason and I in the whole world, and nothing could change this beautiful, perfect moment. It was only a few seconds, yet forever. In that one kiss, I knew what was behind that amazing smile of his, and it made my love for him grow even more. A jolt of electricity ran down my spine, and I knew that this was real. The most real thing I've ever felt in my entire life. I ran my fingers through Jason's wet hair. I've longed for this for what feels like forever, but in reality, I haven't known him that long.
But it didn't matter, because time couldn't determine the passion I felt for him. Only we could.
The promise I made Jason was sealed with a kiss.
As I pulled away from him, I searched his eyes, but there was nothing more to say.
Our kiss said it all.
My lips burned, feeling as if they were on fire.
Even if it was our first kiss, I couldn't help but have an unsettling feeling that it was also our last.