The Haunted Orphanage

Chapter 16

Mark's POV

I gently kissed Reagan's forehead as she drifted off to sleep. I smiled down at her, cuddled into my side.

I heard Dan chuckle, so I looked up at him. He was smiling at me. "Ya know, these kids really would fit right in with us."

"I know right!" I started. "I just can't wait to tell Jack about her."

Dan's eyes widened slightly, accompanied by a smile across his face.

"Because h-he's my best friend," I added.

"Right. Yeah of course," Dan responded sarcastically.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "If you need something to compare our friendship to, Jack and I are like you and Phil."

"So you do have a crush on him!" Dan cheered. His eyes widened immediately after. "Uh, I mean–"

"Did you just confess to having feelings for Phil?!" I shouted.

He slammed a hand over my mouth. "Shut up and go to sleep, weirdo."

He likes Phil.

HE LIKES PHIL.

HE FUCKING LIKES PHIL!

"I ship it," I whispered to Dan, making him smile.

"Well, I ship you and Jack so I guess that makes us even."

"Whatever," I yawned, closing my eyes, suddenly feeling very tired. I started to fall asleep, holding Reagan close.

•••

I woke up in my bed, back at home. I sat up and looked around to find that everything looked exactly as it had before we left. I pulled the covers off of myself and got out of bed.

I walked to my closet and got changed out of my pajamas. I put on dark blue skinny jeans and my red flannel. I exited my room, and found my house silent, besides the sound of something cooking in my kitchen. I walked toward the sound to find a man with green hair cooking bacon.

JACK!

"Oh my gosh! Jack!" I yelled before running toward him and enveloping him in a giant hug.

He chuckled at me, "You act like you haven't seen me in a month! Are you alright?"

"I guess I just...had a bad dream."

He turned around to face me and gently pressed his lips against mine. It caught by surprise at first, but after a second I started kissing back.

It felt odd. Like it wasn't supposed to be happening.

He pulled away from me. "You don't need to have bad dreams. I'm here, remember? But, uh, you're wearing that to the funeral?"

My eyes widened. "What funeral?"

"What do you mean 'what funeral'? Mark, Reagan died in a car crash, remember?"

"What? Reagan isn't dead!"

And that was when I realized that I didn't have a bad dream.

I was dreaming.

Because Jack wasn't here, he was being hurt.

"I'm dreaming," I whispered.

Jack looked taken aback. "You're smarter than we thought."

"Umm, what does that mean?"