THE 100 IMAGINES

[JJ] Sea Salt.

The first thing that you used to smell when you woke up was the salt from the water, the faint smell of fish being smoked near the mess hall and the smell of freshly baked bread from the main kitchen on the oil rig. But that was before. Now, as your eyes slowly blinked open, with your fingers rubbing away the sleep from your eyes, the first thing you could smell was the lingering scent of wild berries that surrounded Jasper as he slept beside you. When he first arrived with the others, he had short brown hair, but it had begun to grow out more, and it stuck out in different directions, a few strands hung over his forehead, not quite reaching his eyes yet. At some point, during the night, he had pulled you closer to himself. His right arm hung across your side as you faced him, your hands bunched in the middle of the two of you. Jasper's mouth was parted as he breathed, but he wasn't snoring, he was just breathing deeper than usual.

The birds, outside the window, chirped loudly, waking Jasper up. He closed his mouth and swallowed the saliva that almost dribbled onto the pillow. Turning on his back, with a sharp intake of air, his left arm remained trapped under your body as he struggled to stretch. As his eyes lazily blinked open, he ran his hand through his hair, pushing it back before he rolled over to face you again, closing his eyes as he tried to get more sleep. A smile spread across your face as you placed your left hand on his cheek and stroked gently, feeling the rough, unshaven skin beneath your fingertips. Jasper hummed, edging closer to you. He had a tired, dopey, smile on his face as one eye opened, his other eye squeezed shut still. He hummed to himself again and pulled you closer, tangling your legs together.

"Morning," he croaked out, sighing to himself.

"Do you want to get breakfast?" You asked, knowing the answer already.

"Five more minutes."

Jasper squeezed you softly, moving his head to lay on your pillow as he moved closer. He smiled to himself and breathed deeply as your fingers softly moved through his hair, massaging his scalp before you pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, resting your own against his as your fingers travelled back to his unshaven jaw. It had become a routine for the two of you, laying in bed together in the early hours of the morning when you both woke up. Sometimes, on the rare occasion, if Jasper woke up before you, he would whisper all the things he wouldn't dare say to you out loud when you were awake. But you always heard him, always. You just never told him, because you knew that if you did, he would stop, and you didn't want him to stop. The sweet words and loving touches were rare, so you let them continue.

"You say that all the time," you reminded him.

"I know."

"Just five more minutes then."

"Thank you."

When he first arrived on the oil rig, he had been joined with Clarke, Bellamy, and Octavia. But when they got ready to leave, he told them that he wanted to stay, that he was tired of fighting, that he was tired of waking up every day in a place that he felt he didn't belong. They understood, waving goodbye to him, but it was clear that they didn't want to leave him behind. Even Jasper saw their hesitation but knew that they wouldn't force him to go back with them if he really didn't want to.

It was when Luna brought him into the small mess hall that he had spotted you. Luna had been explaining a few things to him as she showed him around, but she stopped and turned around to face him when she didn't hear him following her. A small smile etched on her face as she walked back over to him and told him your name. He repeated it, testing how it sounded rolling off the tip of his tongue, and before he knew it, he found himself repeating it more until he accidentally caught your attention. His cheeks flared up in a pink hue and his eyes widened while his mouth hung ajar. Luna patted his back gently before her attention was drawn away by a few of the children who called out to her. Jasper gulped as you stood up and walked over to him with a light smile, introducing yourself formally with a soft handshake, one that Jasper forgot was only meant to last a few seconds, and that he was meant to let go of your hand and not run his thumb across your skin causing goosebumps and your own cheeks to darken.