I had some help

Fifty-three

Alex walked into the park, the cool evening air brushing against her skin. The sun was setting, casting a warm, golden glow across the landscape. Everything looked almost surreal, like something out of a memory. As she made her way down the familiar path, she spotted Morgan sitting on their favorite bench. He was hunched over, elbows resting on his knees, lost in thought. The sight of him made her heart ache, a mix of longing and uncertainty swirling within her.

She approached him slowly, unsure of what to say, but knowing she couldn't leave things the way they were. Two days without talking felt like an eternity, and the distance between them had been suffocating.

Morgan looked up as she approached, his eyes tired but softening when they met hers. He seemed relieved to see her, though the tension between them was palpable.

"Hey." Alex said quietly, stopping a few feet away from him.

"Hey." He replied, his voice low, almost tentative. "I wasn't sure if you'd come."

"I wasn't sure either." Alex admitted, moving closer until she was standing right in front of him. "But I couldn't stay away."

He nodded, looking down at his hands, which were clasped tightly together. "I've been thinking... about us. About everything."

Alex swallowed hard, the weight of their last conversation still heavy on her heart. "Me too." She whispered. "I don't want to keep fighting, Morgan. It's tearing me apart."

He looked up at her, his eyes filled with a mixture of regret and determination. "I don't want to fight either, Alex. But we can't keep pretending we're just friends. We both know that's not true."

Her breath hitched at his words, the truth of them hitting her like a wave. "I'm scared, Morgan." She confessed, her voice trembling. "What if we mess everything up? What if we ruin what we have?"

Morgan stood up then, closing the small distance between them. "I'm scared too." He said, his voice steady. "But we can't keep running from this. We can't keep ignoring what's right in front of us."

Alex looked into his eyes, searching for any sign of doubt, but all she saw was the same fear and longing that had been haunting her. "I've been miserable without you, It's only been two days, and I'm going crazy. I wrote two songs yesterday and they're both about you pretty much." She admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

He reached out, taking her hand in his, the warmth of his touch grounding her. "I've been miserable too." He said softly. "These past two days have been hell, and I can't stand it anymore. I need you, Alex. I need us to figure this out. And I want to here those songs."

"Not yet." Alex said with a small giggle. "It's a secret, you'll hear when it's released, or when you go on tour again." Alex said rolling her eyes at Morgan who was grabbing his chest dramatically.

"We've been through so much." She murmured, her voice trembling. "I don't want to go back to pretending."

"Then let's not pretend anymore." He whispered back, his breath warm against her skin. "Let's be real with each other, with ourselves."

Morgan was smiling at her, that same smile that had always made her feel like everything would be okay. "Tomorrow." He said softly. "We'll figure it out together."

Alex nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Yeah, tomorrow."

As they stood there, hand in hand, the world around them seemed to blur, the warmth of the setting sun casting everything in a soft, golden light. It felt like a promise, a new beginning waiting just on the horizon.

But as she moved to lean in for a kiss, the warmth of his hand began to slip away, and the scene around them started to fade.

Alex's eyes flew open, her heart pounding as she woke up in her bed, alone. The lingering feelings from the dream clung to her, the peace she had felt now replaced by the cold reality that it had all been a figment of her imagination. The park, the conversation, the way they had made up-it was all just a dream. She looked over at her clock, seeing it was one in the morning.