Can’t Win Me Back

It was as though Jasper was adrift in a pool of pure astonishment, and the fact that the ledge beneath

them was falling apart only enhanced this surreal feeling.

“Hurry, Alice!” he cried, resurrecting a name that had been dormant in his mind for years.

Alyssa jolted in shock. The call of that name seemed to give her a boost of adrenaline. She was able to

push herself up on the ledge at the last second, right into Jasper’s arms.

He held her close in his arms, keeping her safe.

A thunderous boom echoed through the air.

Just as the rocky ledge disintegrated and tumbled down the mountainside, Jasper deftly rolled aside,

narrowly escaping the peril.

“Fuck!” he hissed in pain when his back collided with a boulder. The intensity of the pain led to an

immediate outbreak of sweat on his skin.

“Are you hurt?” Alyssa asked worriedly, noticing how pale he was.

Jasper shook his head, his voice steady as he reassured, “I’m okay.”

Alyssa heaved a sigh of relief, falling back against his chest. By now, both were thoroughly drenched and

shivering from the cold.

“Why… Why didn’t you tell me?” Jasper asked hoarsely, gazing at her.

“What?” Alyssa avoided his gaze.

“Why didn’t you tell me that we met 13 years ago? Why didn’t you tell me you were the girl I saved all

those years ago?” Jasper asked, pain and anguish flooding his chest.

clamped in

her Alice because of that? Because he suddenly remembered?

But why now?

after

now. How she wished he had

Jasper asked, forcing her to meet his gaze.

+15 BONUS

why I called myself Alice when we married?”

Of course

refused to answer when he asked. He named

Alice in Wonderland.

dreams did Jasper imagine that a seemingly trivial and long-forgotten memory would

their lives 13 years later. She had even married him.

kept it secret for so

do.” Alyssa smiled lightly. “There’s no need to, really. I never hoped you would. I’m

than another passerby in your life, after all. Whether it was 13 years, three years, or right now.”

Jasper’s breathing hitched.

amiss in his complete forgetfulness of her or in his act of saving

he couldn’t stop the guilt weighing on his chest.

kept him in her heart for 13 years, yet he had forgotten her. All she ever did was try

who only wanted to shut her

really didn’t know… If I knew, I-”

still divorced me,

her regrets

continued, “Whether I’m Alyssa or Alice, they’re nothing more than just names.

don’t need to apologize, really. I should be

ago, I never got a chance to know your name or who you are, nor …

properly thank you.”

marry me, Alyssa?” Jasper wanted to know the answer to

just because I saved you once,

doesn’t matter anymore, Jasper. It’s all in the past now. No point digging up a failed marriage.”

eyes, as if closing a tender place in her heart

she said, “We need to focus on getting to

be an unspoken truce between them as they waded through the