Disclaimer: I do not own the characters within; all rights and much respect go to Crown Media, Hallmark, Ms. Oke, Mr. Bird, Mr. Landon, and the creators/writers/actors of "When Calls the Heart". You inspired me to write and I'm not a writer! Feel free to use my story on the show, I'd be honored!

***Hi, I've missed writing for you! I wrote this one shot back in June after that awful scene of poor Jack at the church, but there were so many cliffhanger stories I decided not to post it. Brian Bird's words regarding the Season 2 cliffhanger, "…It will be Hearties best dream and worst nightmare", drove this story. This is what I was hoping would happen, but that was before we knew it was a New Years episode. I hope to meet some of you in Vancouver. Happy Holidays!

Trust me Hearties, this is different than the other stories…please stick with me!

Season 3 Premiere

Inside the schoolhouse, Charles gestured the ring box further toward Elizabeth.

Elizabeth stared, "Charles…"

"Speechless, I see!" Charles said with a small smile. "You can just nod your head, if you like," he said as he removed the ring from the box.

"I…I…" Elizabeth stammered as she took a step back and glanced at the open doorway, expecting Jack any minute.

Charles stood, "I love you, Elizabeth. I have loved you for such a long time. We've grown up together and it makes sense for us to grow old together," Charles said as he took a step toward her.

"I can't believe you would show up here and do this!" Elizabeth exclaimed as she stepped back.

"Me either!" Jack said as he walked in toward them.

"Jack!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

Jack stood firmly and looked from Elizabeth to Charles and back again. "I told you he would propose the minute he thought I was out of the picture," he said to Elizabeth before turning his attention back to Charles. Jack stared at Charles with his brow furrowed, "What gave you the impression that I was out of the picture? I didn't think you were the kind of man that would propose to a woman who's already in a courtship. I thought you would be more honorable than that," Jack said with ice in his tone.

Elizabeth looked from Jack to Charles; she realized that her two worlds could be collapsing all because she didn't want to hurt her friend's feelings.

"Of course I'm an honorable man!" Charles exclaimed, "Elizabeth told me you two were having problems, especially after what happened with Tom and Julie," Charles stated matter-of-factly.

"You shared our problems with him?" Jack asked in disbelief. "I have never discussed you or what transpired in Hamilton with anyone because that's between us!"

"I…I…" Elizabeth stammered again.

"I don't even know what to say." Jack said, clearly at a loss. "Here you accused me of perfidy with Rosie and then made insinuations about me and my brother's nurse. I think you have a guilty conscious, Miss Thatcher!" Jack exclaimed.

"Jack!" She said as she took a step toward him.

"Did you tell him that you love him too? Did you kiss him like you kissed me?" Jack said before he spun around and stormed out of the church.

"No! Jack, wait!" Elizabeth cried as she hurried after him, "I love you! I only love you." She exclaimed, but Charles grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"You belong in Hamilton!" Charles said as he took hold of both of her arms, which kept her from running after Jack. "Your father is expecting me to bring you back," he said in her ear as she struggled to break free.

"Jaaack!" Elizabeth cried, "Let go of me, Charles!" she fought against his hold, "Jack! Please come back!" She cried out again.

"Elizabeth!" Abigail yelled as she shook her awake.

"Jack!" Elizabeth cried again as she sat up in bed. Her breathing was labored as she looked blankly at her friend, "Abigail?"

"It was only a dream! You're ok and so is Jack. I'm sure he's sound asleep at the jail," Abigail said as she rubbed her friend's arm.

Elizabeth's breathing was so ragged it took her a few moments to compose herself. "Oh, Abigail! What a nightmare!"

"Do you want to talk about it?" Abigail offered.

"Yes….no…I don't know," She said wiping her tears away, "I need to see Jack!" Elizabeth exclaimed as she pushed the blankets back and jumped out of bed.

"It's well after midnight..." Abigail tried to stop her.

"It doesn't matter! Jack wants me to go to him even for the smallest thing; he doesn't care what time it is." Elizabeth said firmly.

"If you insist!" Abigail said, knowing nothing would stop her head-strong friend. She watched Elizabeth as she put on her shoes, "It must have been some nightmare."

"I'm so sorry to wake you, but it was an awful dream…truly a nightmare! I've been so worried lately about losing Jack, not only from his work, but his affection too. I felt much better about it after our time in the mine." Elizabeth said with a shy smile before it faded, "I think that telegram that I received from Charles did a number on my head." She said as she threw her robe on and tied it tightly, followed by her coat. "I don't want Charles' visit to cause any more trouble now that Jack and I are in love."

"You've been in love for a long time if you ask me." Abigail said with a wide grin.

That caused Elizabeth to smile fully, "I agree."

"Oh, go on!" Abigail shooed her friend toward the staircase.

"I won't be long!" She called back as she descended the stairs. Elizabeth rushed out the door and into the dark street. The moon did not provide a great deal of light, but Elizabeth knew the way to the jail with her eyes closed. She was spooked as a gust of wind kicked up and she heard a noise behind her. She immediately broke into a run to the jail; she couldn't wait to feel the safety of Jack's arms around her.

She ran up the steps of the jail and knocked, "Jack?" She called as she continued to knock. "Jack!"

She heard Rip bark immediately and instantly felt relief when she heard Jack's warm voice, "Quiet, Rip!"

"Who is it?" Jack called.

"Jack, it's me!" Elizabeth called as she looked over her shoulder once more into the dark street and felt goosebumps go down her spine from another gust of wind.

The door quickly flew open, "Elizabeth! What's wrong?" He said as he quickly pulled her inside and closed the door. "Are you all right?" He asked as he ran his hands down her arms.

Elizabeth saw the look of concern and love reflected on his eyes. She was taken by him and smiled that his usual perfectly combed hair was slightly messy. She couldn't help but hug him, "Jack…" she said as she nuzzled her face into his neck and took in his scent. Elizabeth immediately felt his arms go around her, and suddenly felt the warmth and safety she longed for moments ago.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked as he rubbed her back and kissed her temple. His breath and voice tickled her senses.

Elizabeth pulled back to look at him, "It's just…" she began, but suddenly felt guilty for waking him over a nightmare. "You said I could come to you…and I needed to."

Jack smiled, "I'm glad you did. At this time of night, it must have been a bad dream?"

With wide eyes Elizabeth began again, "It was awful, Jack! You were going to propose to me, but then..."

Jack pulled back a little and smiled at her, "You had a dream that I was going to propose to you?"

"Yes, but then Charles got there before you did and proposed to me instead! And then you..."

"Wait! You dreamt that Charles proposed to you instead of me?" Jack asked as he stepped back from their embrace.

"Yes!"

"You're the only one I dream about." Jack admitted as he let go of her.

"You dream of me?" Elizabeth asked in surprise.

"Yes." He said as he walked toward his desk. "You know, they say dreams are our subconscious mind…our fears, our desires. Is that what you want?" Jack asked with a pained look in his eyes, "Do you want to marry Charles?"

"He's my friend, Jack!" Elizabeth protested as she took a stepped closer to him.

"I was hoping you'd say no!" he said as he turned away.

"No! I do NOT want to marry Charles! I could never do that because he's my friend and besides that; I'm in love with you!" Elizabeth proclaimed with tears in her eyes, feeling as though her nightmare was coming true. She closed the distance between them and took hold of his arm, "I love you so much, Jack! I wish you proposed in my dream. I was so disappointed." She said as a tear slipped down her cheek. Jack quickly wiped her tear away with his thumb, "I mean…I'm not ready to get married now anyway, but perhaps someday if you ever would consider that….and you wanted to ask me." She ended her words softly because she suddenly felt awkward. She quickly turned away from him, "I should go! It's late and you need your sleep." She took a few steps, but Jack gently grabbed her arm and pulled her back into his embrace.

"Elizabeth…" Jack said with a small smile which caused her to smile slightly too. "I love you and you're going to have to tell me when you're ready because I'm already waiting for you."

"You are?" Elizabeth said in surprise. Their eyes met and they felt that familiar draw to each other.

Jack nodded, "Just don't make me wait forever," he said as he glanced at her lips.

Elizabeth smiled shyly, "Of course not…" she whispered as she closed her eyes and their lips met. Their kiss was soft and sweet at first before it began to build with passion, but Rip's bark broke them from their moment.

"Rip!"

"We have to talk about your timing." Jack said.

"I like to think he approves!" Elizabeth smiled as they still stood in their embrace. "I guess I should be going," she said reluctantly as she stepped away.

"Let me walk you home," Jack said as he put on his jacket and grabbed a lantern. He caught site of her white satin robe as she walked to the door. "Are you wearing your pajamas?"

Elizabeth's eyes went wide, "No!"

Jack squinted his eyes at her which caused her to smile, "Ok, yes!" Elizabeth admitted.

Jack laughed, "First I see your knees, now your pajamas…" he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"You didn't see them! You can only see my robe." Elizabeth corrected him.

"Well if you want to show me..." Jack said with a grin.

"Jack!" Elizabeth said.

He laughed, "Take my arm?" He said as he offered it to her. She quickly took it and they headed into the dark night.

Once in the street, she looked over at Jack in the dim light of the lantern. What a difference Jack made as she now walked securely down the street; such contrast to the fear she felt before when she ran down the street. "I'm glad you told me to come to you, Jack. Thank you," Elizabeth said as she squeezed his arm tighter.

"I'm glad you came to me. I'm always here for you, Elizabeth." Jack said.

Elizabeth's smile grew wider, "I know you are, thank you. Please know that you can do the same with me. Please take me up on that anytime, day or night, even though I know you have Mountie business that you can't discuss."

Jack smiled, "Thank you. There are a ton of other things that I will need to talk to you about throughout our future. We certainly have to work on communicating or Abigail is going to scold us."

"Yes! She did say she would use her iron skillet on us if we didn't communicate better." They both laughed at that.

"She's right."

Jack nodded.

"That being said Jack…I think I know why I had that nightmare." Elizabeth said as they arrived at the café.

"Why's that?" He asked as he placed the lantern on a post.

Elizabeth looked down, "I've been afraid to lose you, not only because of your job, but your affection too. Of course that was until our adventure in the mine." Elizabeth said before she broke into a smile.

Jack smiled at the memory, "So what made you worried about losing my affection? I've told you my heart is true."

Elizabeth looked down again, "I know and please forgive me, but when Viola told me about Faith and we were arguing so much, I thought I was losing you." She looked into Jack's eyes, "Then you didn't want to travel home with me and you kept your distance after we got back. I thought for sure that I was losing you." She said as her voice cracked as she gently stroked his cheek, "I can't lose you."

"Well you're not going to." Jack said as he placed his hand over hers, but Elizabeth stepped back and began to pace nervously.

"Jack, I think the dream was about my own guilty conscious. I spent time with my friend Charles and everyone kept telling me that he had feelings for me. I didn't want believe it because then I couldn't stay friends with him. We've known each other since we were children and were best friends. I knew that he had feelings for me, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings and so I just kept sweeping it under the rug. That was wrong of me."

"I see." Jack said.

Elizabeth turned to him, "He's my friend, but that's all he is to me. What I feel for you, just being with you… it's like nothing I've ever felt. I'm in love with you, Jack!" she said as she moved close to him.

"I'm in love with you. I have to admit, I'm so relieved to know that," Jack said before he looked down. "I was worried I'd lose you to him," he said quietly.

"You won't!" Elizabeth said firmly as she took his face in her hands.

Jack slowly leaned in and claimed her lips again, but after a moment Elizabeth stopped him by placing her hand on his chest.

"Jack, I need you to know that I received a telegram from Charles. He's coming to town and wants to spend time with me. I told him before I left Hamilton that I couldn't allow this to go on anymore." Elizabeth swallowed hard as she waited for Jack's reaction.

"Ok…" Jack said flatly.

Elizabeth looked down and nervously ran her fingers over the lapels of his jacket, "Charles' telegram said he has something important that he wants to ask me and I'm nervous. I…I don't want his visit here to impact us," Elizabeth said as tears sprang in her eyes and she hugged him. "We've shared our love for each other and…I just don't want any more problems for us," she said with worry.

"So we won't allow it. I meant what I said in the mine, we have to face things together." Jack said as he held her tightly against him.

Elizabeth nodded, "Together!" She said before she reclaimed his lips. Their kiss moved from soft and sweet to more demanding. She ran her hands through his hair and held him close as she trailed kisses to his ear, "Don't let go of me." She whispered as she held onto him even tighter.

"Don't let go of me," he whispered back before their lips found each other once again.