bouncer ☓ h.s.

5. styles

Delilah.

Sometimes I'm aware that I'm dreaming. One second I'm asleep and aware there's something going on, then the next I'm in a dream. I'll stop whatever Dream Delilah is doing and ponder whether I want to wake up or keep this thing rolling.

If it's a decent dream I'll have fun with it and manipulate it. Once I was casually having a barbeque with the cast of Full House and decided to throw in a pool of baby orca whales and we were suddenly all mermaids. In another, it wasn't a dream but a nightmare. I was aware of what was going on only this time I couldn't wake myself up. I was stuck inside, like when a car sinks in a body of water. You're still in your seat and know you're sinking and likely going to drown, but there's nothing you can do about it.

I hear two voices, though can't make out what they're saying. The first is as deep as it is gruff, thick with a British accent and clearly aggravated. The second argues back, though I can't make out the words either is speaking.

Suddenly flashes of green eyes, large hands, purple bruises and car keys interrupt. Blurred moments, memories. Callused hands lightly brush over the dark bruises on my arms, gently mimicking the actions that caused them. I drop the car keys, but someone else picks them up. My eyes meet the greenest pair I've ever seen. Harry's eyes.

Harry.

It's his voice I recognize. My dream Harry seems to argue with whoever he is on the phone with. It's too dark to see much of anything. I try manifesting some kind of light into the dream, but it doesn't work. Not good. This is like when you lay into the horn to alert the other car swerving into your lane, but they don't hear.

"Del?"

Another flash, and I remember. Enveloped in strong arms, the thick scent of cologne in my nose. Everything starts to drain of color, to blur at the edges. I lost consciousness. I fainted?

The car hits you, the momentum sending your own vehicle over the guard rail and into the lake.

The voices become more pronounced as my heart rate increases. Am I drowning? It feels like it. Your car slips beneath the surface and water seeps in through tiny cracks and holes in the doors.

I remember trying to pick up Ray. I remember the parking lot, the fight, hitting my head, Harry hitting Ray. Harry kidnapping me? No, he saved me. Right?

The water is at your neck and there's no more oxygen; you used it all hyperventilating. You're going to die. This is a nightmare, not a dream. I'm the victim, stuck inside my car as it sinks to the bottom of the lake. The pressure from the water pushes against the doors and I can't get out. As hard as I try I can't break the windows, I can't wake up. That's all I need to do, wake up. Then I'll see Ray sleeping next to me, sleeping off the alcohol.

My chest feels as if it's going to explode, my heart beats out of my chest. I can't breathe. How is it that every other dream is different? Why can't this one change? If you die in your dream, do you die in real life?

Harry yells in the background, and I hear a dead dial tone.

"Del?"

_____________________

I'm on a couch, not trapped in my car.

A hand presses against my forehead, pushing back my damp curls. I crack open my eyes and immediately shut them again as light pours into them. Wrinkling my nose, I hear a light chuckle. The sound is warm, giving off a similar feeling to curling up in a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate; calming.

Slowly, I open my eyes again. After taking a moment to adjust to the light, I see faded tattoos peeking out from beneath a dark shirt. Wondering what else is hidden by the shirt, I blush. My gaze travels upwards, and I meet a pair of familiar green eyes.