Charms or Banjos?

Chapter 21

"I don't know what to say Jess. Like what, you lived through the next four months in a relationship with Alex, only for it to have all been a dream?" Paige said as she sat down on the bus. "Tell me about it. I loved him and he loved me and Emily wasn't in the picture, it was perfect. And now I have to pretend like it never happened." Jessica replied, sitting down across from her. "Okay, why don't we just try to recreate everything that happened in the dream?" Paige offers. "You know my parents, i won't be able to go tomorrow night and they sure as hell wouldn't let me sleep at yours knowing Alex was there." Jessica replied, defeated.

The rest of the day went by surprisingly similar to the dream Jessica had, right up to the moment when she walked through the door and Alex stared at her. She felt confident knowing that, even though it was in her dreams, she had made this man fall for her. She walked confidently past him, following Paige into the kitchen.

The rest of the night went by exactly the way it had in her dream, down to the very words Paige used to comfort her when Alex called Emily. Jessica couldn't sleep all night. Her mind was racing, wondering how she could predict the future in a dream, wondering what was meant by the dream. Eventually, sleep took over and she fell into a deep sleep.

She woke up the next morning with a heavy arm around her waist and a throbbing head. Jessica looked around the room, the familiar wallpaper of the bedroom where Paige was house sitting in her dream. It was only when she caught sight of the arm round her waist that she looked down to see who it was. "Alex?" Jessica whispered. "What's up my love, I put paracetamol on the bedside cabinet for you." He grumbled, pulling her closer. Trying desperately not to freak out, Jessica grabbed her phone and messaged Paige to meet her in the bathroom ASAP.

"So you're telling me you had a dream where you and Alex never happened, but when you went to sleep, only one day had passed and then you woke up here?" Paige asked, nursing her coffee and rubbing her eyes every now and then. "Yes, this is insane Paige. I don't know what's reality and what's a dream." Jessica groaned, leaning on the sink. All of a sudden, Jessica felt a harsh slap land on her face. "What the hell Paige?!" Jessica exclaimed, her head pounding even worse than before. "What? You wanted to know what was real, you're still here right? So that means you have to be awake right now and whatever happened where you weren't with Alex was a dream." Paige said, and the longer she spoke, the more sense she made. Soon, her headache was gone and Jessica was bursting with happiness. She didn't need to worry about whether or not Alex thought she was beautiful, whether or not he meant anything he ever told her, because it was all true and he was all hers.