Only In Her Dreams

Chapter 17

The last chapter and this chapter are a little slow but they are needed to plant seeds for the future chapters. So hold on things are about to get a little more intense!

I wake up alone on the couch with a blanket draped over me. I sit up a little and look around the room. Greyson must have gone home. I feel a little sad knowing he left without saying goodbye but I'm sure he had good reason. 

I lay on the couch for a minute alone with my thoughts. I'm going to have a hard time falling back to sleep. 

I decide to get up and go into the kitchen to take a quarter of my mom's sleeping pills. This time hoping it won't have the same effect as last time since I am taking the right dose. 

I swallow it down with water before heading upstairs to snuggle into my warm bed and wander off into dreamland. 

There's a group of us standing on the dock waiting to load the boat for a fun day out on the lake. Abby comes skipping down the wooden dock in her 2 piece swimsuit and sunglasses on. "Everyone ready? Abby says "Let's get this show on the road!" 

We all climb onto our friend Raymond's boat with our towels and sunscreen in tow, ready for a full day of sun and water. 

"Who wants music?!" Abby yells as she pulls out her portable speaker and starts playing music loudly. 

We anchor the boat out in the middle of the water and we are all enjoying each other's company, swimming, and sun tanning. 

Abby and I move to lay on the bow of the boat to suntan. We just lay there in silence next to each other staring up at the beautiful blue sky. Somewhere over the rainbow starts playing which is one of our favorite songs. She reaches over and holds my hand in hers and looks over at me smiling and mouths "I love you." I smile back and mouth "I love you too" and we return our stare up to the sky. I take in a deep breath. It's so calm and peaceful, I am so happy in this moment. 

I roll over and wake up with a smile on my face. This actually felt like a dream. It still felt nice and it made me happy but it wasn't like the other dreams I've had. This was more similar to something being played out in front of me that hasn't yet happened. There were no thoughts or feelings of death or grief. 

I hated waking up realizing that she wasn't here with me but I am still grateful that I was able to see her alive, well, and happy in my dreams even for a moment. 

I checked my phone to see if I had any messages and see a text from Greyson:

Morning cutie ❤ Sorry I left without saying goodbye last night. I didn't want to wake you, you looked so peaceful. Want me to pick you up to come to my house in a bit?

That made me smile. I figured he was just being nice by not waking me. Remembering my car was dropped off by the shop yesterday I reply:

I have my car so I can drive there. What time and what's your address? 

He sends me his address and I realize I only have an hour to get ready and grab some breakfast.

On my way out I see my mom on the couch watching a hallmark movie. I walk over and lean down to hug her before heading out the door.

I enter the address into my google maps and head to Greyson's house. 

I pull up to a red brick house that is moderate in size. The hedges are trimmed nicely and the whole yard seems to be well taken care of. The only car in the driveway is Greyson's. 

I go to the front door and knock. While I'm waiting I look around and admire all the houses on this block. They are all similar in build and style but I like it. 

The front door slowly opens and I look to see a boy standing there looking at me with a giant smile on his face. He seems to be just a couple of years younger than me and I assume this is Greyson's brother. "Hi! I'm Alissa!" I say

"ehh," He grunts and points at me. I smile and furrow my brows a little confused by this gesture. 

"Ah River, I told you to wait, I would get the door," Greyson says as he approaches us at the entrance of the house. 

"Hey cutie," Greyson says as he leans in for a peck on my lips. I hesitantly kiss him back as this is a tiny bit awkward. "Come in," he steps aside so I can walk in "I was just about to take River out back to play with his train set on the patio." 

"Alright," I said tilting my head to the side "you lead the way."

He slides the glass door open and we all step out onto the deck. River runs to his trainset that is laid out on a large wooden table while Greyson sits in a porch swing that is just on the other side of the deck. 

I take a seat next to Greyson on the swing "Thanks for asking me over and inviting me into this part of your life," I say

He puts his hand on my leg "I want to let you into all parts of my life and this right here is my most important piece!" he tells me

"I know you've probably noticed that River isn't like a regular 15-year-old boy," he explains "and that's because he has autism."

That makes a little sense as to why he didn't talk to me when he first opened the door. 

"He's so smart and happy and special to me and I want you to see him the way I do," he says while looking over at River smiling. River looks over and holds up his train and points at it with a huge smile across his face. "Yeah Riv that's your favorite one huh!" he yells across the deck.

Seeing Greyson like this with his brother just really melts my heart. He's more caring and soft with him than I've ever seen.

"You have a nice house," I say looking around

"Thanks, my dad works hard to give us a good life since my mom left," he says which leaves me in shock.

"When did your mom leave?" I ask, hoping that I didn't overstep and ask something that might offend him.

"She left shortly after River was diagnosed. He was around 4," he says "It wasn't only because of his diagnosis, she also had an addiction problem but the weight of his diagnosis I'm sure weighed on her and made the addiction worse." he continues "It's ok though, my dad does a great job at taking care of everything, he is just really busy. So sometimes I have to step in and help when I am able."

"They're lucky to have you," I say

"I feel like I'm the lucky one to have them," he says "they kept me sane after Brent died. My dad even helped me hone in on my 'ability' so I wasn't so scared of it. Even though I struggle with it at school, being around all those angsty teenagers all the time it has gotten better with his help. and now yours." he says smiling  "he likes to think of it as a 'gift' I think of it more as a curse." 

"He sounds like a great guy, I can't wait to meet him!" I say

"He should be here for dinner," he says "We're having waffles by the way I hope you don't mind. It's River's favorite," He chuckles "He owns like 5 different waffle irons from Mickey mouse to Star Wars so you can take your pick." 

I can't seem to wipe this smile off my face. He is even more handsome than before and I am happy he is opening up to me about his life. 

We spend the rest of the day and night hanging out with his family and I am realizing that Greyson now owns my heart.