Alice POV

I sat clutching my sketch pad in my hands. A single tear made its way down my cheek. I looked at the picture I had just drawn. It appeared a simple forest with green trees and a blue sky, yet to me it was so much more. It was the world outside these gray walls.

I flipped to a blank page in my sketch book. My eyes did not leave the page even though it wasn't what I was seeing. My hand grasped a pencil and began moving around the page wildly. What I was seeing was amazing, beautiful. He had blonde hair and a gentle face. He looked about my age or perhaps a little older. My eyes blinked rapidly and the boy I had seen in my mind was now on the paper staring back at me.

"Be real." I whispered to the page. "Please, be real." I hugged the sketch pad to me before putting it back into a shoebox where I kept the few things I was allowed to have. In the box lay a pack of crayons, a pencil case, and a picture of my family. I turned the picture face down so I wouldn't have to look at it and set the sketch pad on top. There then came a knock on my door.

"Hello?" The voice that spoke was new to me.

"Hi!" I said excitedly. I ran to my door and tried to pull it open with no luck. The voice chuckled.

"You have to step away from the door if you want me to open it, darlin'." I walked to the other side of the room and the door creaked open. In the doorway stood the boy I had imagined a while ago. I ran to hug him. Then I remembered that he didn't know me.

"I'm Alice." I said still hugging him.

"I'm Jasper." To my surprise he hugged me back.

"Jasper." I repeated. I let go of him and slowly looked toward my shoebox. "Stay right there!" I sprinted to the shoebox and pulled out my sketch pad. I flipped to the picture of Jasper and shoved it at him. He smiled.

"You are quite an artist, little lady." He handed the sketch pad back to me. I blushed and put the sketch pad up. "Pack your things, we have to get out of here."

"The guards will catch us." His handsome face took on a puzzled expression.

"They're all gone. This place has been closed down for years, darlin'." I fell to my knees and began to sob. I felt Jasper kneel beside me and wrap his arms around me. "Shh, It's gonna be okay." He made me look at him and wiped the tears from my face. "Let's go."

"Okay." I nodded and grabbed my shoebox and the clothes out of my little dresser. He took my hand and led me out into the hallway. Dodging falling pieces of the ceiling we rushed through the many crumbling halls of the asylum and out a large hole in a wall.

"C'mon darlin' only a little bit farther and we're there." We sprinted hand in hand away from the crumbling asylum and into a forest. I dropped his hand and gasped. It was so much more beautiful than I remembered. I twirled around trees smiling and laughing before running up to Jasper and pulling him into a hug. He picked me up and spun me around. He kissed my cheek and lowered me to the ground.

We walked in the forest until Jasper stopped by a tree and pointed upward to a quaint little shelter in it. "I live up there. I'll help you up." He offered me his hand and I took it. He helped me up to a tree branch and then climbed up himself. This continued until we stood at the door to Jasper's home. He took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He opened the door and motioned for me to go inside. I smiled and hopped in. He closed the door behind him and showed me around.

It didn't look like an old tree fort or anything remotely close to that. It looked like a real house, or at least what I could remember a real house looked like. There was a bed in one corner and a chairs and a table in another. There were cupboards with cups, plates, pots, and pans. All that was missing was a stove. Jasper smiled and said, "I make a fire outside to cook." I nodded.

"This place is amazing."

"My dad helped me build it before he died. I was out here when my old house caught on fire and my parents were in the house." A single tear escaped his eye. I ran over and hugged him.

"My parents abandoned me. I don't know where they are or if they're alive. They put me in the asylum when I was five." He hugged me back.

"It's okay darlin', we have each other now." I stepped back and smiled up at him.

This is my first fanfiction, so please review and let me know what you think of it.