Innocent Bystander

Chapter Three: I'm Thirteen; I Should Not Be Having These Dreams

AN: Stream the linked song for full effect ("Water Fountain" by Alec Benjamin)!

(Man, I love the fact that I can attach videos and pictures on here.)

The next thing I knew, it was 'time for bed'. I put those words in quotations because I don't actually go to bed myself. I only pretend to so Charlie won't complain about having to go to bed at 9:00, while I get to stay up until 12:30 on weekends. My parents told me I didn't have to do this, but to make everyone's life easier, I insisted. One day soon, he'll be grateful for the days when he had to go to bed early. At least he doesn't have to stay up late to do oodles of homework. Of course, I was let off scot-free when it came to homework that weekend, given the fact that I was new, but I knew the work would come soon enough.

After laying in bed, on my phone, for a few minutes while I waited for my parents to come in and 'say goodnight', they finally came into my room.

My mom looked like an older version of me. The only difference is that she had brown eyes instead of blue ones. She was also taller than me, but not by much.

My dad, on the other hand, was an older version of Charlie. He had brown hair, which, unlike Charlie's, which was full and very (very) curly, was receding and growing grey, and always seemed to have a smile on his face. He was the one I got my blue eyes from. Charlie got his eyes from Mom.

While Dad stood in the doorway of my room, Mom came over and sat on my bed.

"So," She quietly started, "Aunt Linda told me what happened with Gabe and that guy Liam this morning."

"Did you hear her yelling at Gabe through the phone?" I asked.

"Surprisingly, no, I didn't," Mom answered, bemused with herself.

All three of us laughed quietly before Mom started speaking again.

"Did you want to talk about what you saw?" She asked me.

"Well," I started before explaining what went down that morning to her and Dad.

The only reason why I didn't leave out the part about Liam's eyes was that they promised not to say anything to anyone about them.

After a brief discussion about the events of that day, Mom agreed to sign me up for therapy at the hospital, which is something I knew I'd need at some point anyway, due to my anxiety. After sorting out the details, Dad spoke up.

"Alright, I'm gonna say goodnight to Lil' C." He announced before heading next door into Charlie's room. Once Dad was out of earshot, Mom turned back to me.

"So, that guy you met during the incident," She inquired, "Gabe's friend. What's his name again?"

"Nolan," I told her. For some reason, saying his name brought the weird feeling back to the pit of my stomach. I didn't know what it was, but the feeling was a mix between stress and excitement. It was almost as if saying his name gave me a rush of energy and good vibes. I can't really explain it better than that.

"He's a pretty nice boy, isn't he?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, he is," I replied, "He was one of the ones picking on Liam, but... I don't know. It's almost as if he sensed I was having a panic attack and wanted to help."

After some silence, Mom leaned a bit closer to me.

"Do you like him?" She asked as a smile spread across her face.

"Mom!" I laughed, "I only just met him."

"Well, you never know," She chimed, "He could be the one."

"Maybe."

"I told you about how you're supposed to find your soulmate, right?"

"Well, not in full detail, but Katie - the girl I met this morning - she told me all about it."

"Ohh, alright then."

With that, Mom stood up.

"Well, I better go say goodnight to your brother," She said, "Would you mind hanging out in here for the next half hour?"

I nodded my head as she smiled once more and left the room.

***

When I actually did go to sleep that night, I ended up having a very vivid dream. A lucid one almost. One that took place in the future. This dream, oddly enough, had a slightly older - possibly twenty-something-year-old - Nolan in it. Not as a minor character, however. In fact, he was one of the only two characters in the dream, myself being the other one.

In the dream, we were lovers snuggled up together on the couch watching some sort of horror movie (which was odd, since I've never been the type to watch something like that). During the (many) scary parts, he would hold me close, kiss me, and whisper and sweet nothings in my ear. Even though I was dreaming, I could somehow feel Nolan's heartbeat pounding against my head. The warmth of his embrace. His lips on mine. It was calming, yet my heart seemed to race all at once.

It felt like I was living in one of those imagines on Tumblr, only this time, instead of some big celebrity or fictional character, it was Nolan. That was what made this dream-imagine less of a cringe-fest than any imagine you could find on the internet (need I go into detail about the one where Niall from One Direction climbs into y/n's ear? They tell him to stop, but "he is in there". It's very unsettling).

Then, I woke up. The dream was over. The bliss I'd felt was over. Unlike most dreams I'd had in the past, this one meant something to me.

I rolled over to check my alarm clock. 7:30 AM. Charlie must have been in the living room playing on his 3DS because I could hear the quiet sounds of some game he bought coming from outside my bedroom. He'd always been a bit of an early bird. My parents were probably still asleep, but they'd wake up soon enough.

I picked up my phone to text Katie - whose number I'd received during lunch on my first day - about my dream, but I had just met her the day before. Yeah, I trusted her, but could I trust her enough to not say anything to anyone?

And what about Gabe? Nolan was his best friend. What would happen if he somehow found out about what I was feeling?

With those things in mind, I put the phone down and kept my newfound feelings for Nolan to myself.