Thanks for all the reviews and alerts. It's been a long time since I've had this kind of response to anything. Much appreciated.
Sorry for the delay. What happens after one rewatches Hat Trick a few times and THEN one goes to see The Hunger Games is that you find yourself in Ship-Overload. That's what happened to me this weekend so it took me a few days to get back to thinking normally. Enjoy the chapter.
The first thing she noticed that she was much more comfortable than her crappy old mattress normally makes her. She felt the wind lightly tousling her hair. She dropped her hand down and noticed that it landed on what felt like a bed of lush…
"Grass. Oh God" she groaned. Again. This dream again.
"The sun goes down, the stars come out…"
"Go away" she muttered.
"This is your dream, Ms. Swan. Not mine. It is curiouser and curiouser that you keep bringing me here, though…" and he chuckled. She groaned and pushed herself up. She opened her eyes and found him right there, all in her personal space. What she thought was the wind was his fingers running through her hair.
"Wake up, Emma. Wake up, Emma" she muttered to herself.
"When has that worked for you?" he asked, propping himself up on one hand, still staring at her.
"Jefferson, please."
"Please what?" he asked, leaning into her slightly, which that rasp in his voice that made her stomach do a small flip. His eyes were shining at her and she could tell there was a laugh.
"Please go away."
"Once again, Emma, this is your doing, not mine. You are the one that keeps conjuring me up, not the other way around. How many times is this now?"
"I lost count."
"I'm flattered."
She rubbed her hands over her face and looked at him. He felt so real in this moment. He always did. For weeks now, it felt like he was right there with her in these short, stolen moments.
"Where are you?" she asked. He just shrugged, grinning at her. And it was out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
"Are you coming back?"
He sighed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I'm trying. I'm really trying."
"Why?"
"Because I have things left to do" he said, resting his hand lightly against her cheek. She leaned in and took a deep breath, really looking at him.
"This feels so real."
"Dreams can."
"So this is just a dream?"
"That's what you keep saying."
"But you think it may be…" BEEP!
They both glanced around, looking for the beep that came from the distance.
"What was that?" she said, glancing at him. He smiled, sadly this time, and started to move away from her. BEEP!
She got up and turned in a circle, trying to identifying the sound. And when she got back around, he was gone.
BEEP! "JEFFERSON!" she yelled, trying to figure out where he could have gone. BEEP!
"JEFFERSON!" she yelled, shooting straight up in bed. BEEP! And with that final beep, she threw the alarm clock across the room. She ran her hands through her hair and glanced at that hat… that blasted hat in the corner of her room.
"Where in the world have you gone, Jefferson?" she asked to no one in particular, flopping back down in her bed. "And now I need a new alarm clock."
