Once Upon A Dream

Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen: Sleep
-Riley-

Almost as soon as I had gotten to the Dream and spoken with Cordelia she vanished.

Literally.

One minute she's a pretty damn sexy witch (her usual mask hiding her face) but somehow I knew she had been happy to see me, but not nearly as excited as I know I was, I hadn't been sleeping my normal sleep schedule so I wasn't even sure I'd see her tonight.

I sighed and looked around the familiar setting of our dream world, I walked down the path but it seemed continuous so I stepped off the worn path and took a seat under the largest tree. I got settled in, not really certain how long I'd be here, but something was telling me I'd be here for a while considering my body was starving for proper rest.

I began humming and before I knew it I was having a full blown one man concert.

__________

-Cordelia-

Maxine had taken Sherrie home, I stayed in the car as they walked up to the house. The Cole's seemed more than relieved and hugged Maxine before waving at me.

I smiled and waved back as Maxine made her way back to the car.

"So What excuse did she give?" I asked.

She shrugged, "told em she had gone over because his parents were supposed to be out of town, when they came back early she had no way to leave without him getting into a ton of trouble."

"And they bought it?"

She nodded, "I guess so, they didn't push it further."

I yawned, I was exhausted but judging the time I wondered if I'd be able to still fall into a deep and undisturbed sleep enough to see Riley? A pang of guilt hit me...here my friend was in this crazy situation and all I can think about is some guy I've never even met in real life and possibly won't ever meet. Who knows maybe I'm going crazy just like Bryan...becoming obsessed from that damn spell.

I let out a heavy sigh.

"I know girl," Max sounded. "What a night huh?"

"Yeah, what a night."

When we got to her house we quietly let ourselves in. We went right up to her room and she handed me my usual blanket and pillow. I got settled on the floor without so much as a word spoken between us. But what was suppose to be said?

"Night." I offered.

"Night Cords."

__________

I made my way down the long worn path. The fallen leaves on the ground should be crunching beneath my feet and yet the made no sound whatsoever.

And that's when I saw him, I smiled and noticed that he seemed to be in his own little word as his tall frame played the air guitar, he hadn't noticed me at all.

I took a seat on one of the benches and simply watched him just being silly under the tree.

I couldn't help but sit there and smile at how carefree he was.

When his song finished I clapped it was louder than I expected it to be and he turned to finally look at me.

I finally got up and walked over to him.

"How long have you been there?" He asked, I could hear the embarrassment in his question.

I shrugged, "long enough to learn that you know how to let loose and not take yourself too seriously...I like that."

His handsome smile stretched across his face, and he pulled me into a hug "glad you came back."

I relished the feeling of being in his arms, it's so strange how real being with him here in our dream feels. Then I let out a sigh, "About that...I'm not too certain how long I'll be here, earlier I left because one of my friends woke me up, I'm over at her place now...her mom usually gets us up early so my friend can watch her little brothers."

He sighed, "I'm sorry about not being around lately either...I've tried my hardest to meet up with you, but My mom moved us and between traveling and the new time zone I'm all over the place with my sleep schedule."

"I understand."

I felt bad, I recalled him mentioning his parents weren't in a good place but I couldn't remember if he had ever mentioned a possible move or not.

"I use Lavender oil when I can't sleep." I smiled.

"I'll make a note to go and pick some up first thing in the morning."

I finally pulled away from the hug, I knew I couldn't see his face fully but I had to see him. "It's always so strange to think I can miss someone so much when I've never even met you in person."

"I know what you mean." He smiled. "I just wish I could meet you, even texting you throughout the day would make everything going on in my life better."

I just wanted to give him my number, tell him where I live so he could find me, but I had seen first hand how crazy this shit can make someone...this is magic and magic comes with a price if misused, Sherrie misused it and it effected Bryan horribly...I wouldn't do this to Riley.

"I get it, and as crazy as it sounds I know we'll meet up one day but we can't give out personal info...it's kinda the rules."

He sighed and nodded.

"You know...there's a park not too far away I'm almost certain it's the same park as here..." I smiled, "It's probably why I dreamed about it, it's a place I've seen on multiple occasions...when the weekend rolls around I will go to the park...and I will go to the park every single weekend if I have to until I can find you in real life."

He was on the verge of saying something when I watched him suddenly vanish.

I felt like I was going to cry at his absence, but I knew I had to reign in my emotions and simply walked over to an empty bench and waited until I woke up.