AN: I forgot to say it last chapter, but thanks for the reviews! It's literally the highlight of my day to read everything you guys have to say. Anyway, this chapter may seem really weird, but I wanted to start to tie the story into the "and Reality" part of the title. I got the idea when I had a horrible migraine a few days ago and couldn't really see or walk and also when my sister told me about her experience with Sudafed. Apparently she hallucinated I was stabbing our dad in front of her while a raccoon climbed and gnawed at the ceiling. She's an interesting 11 year old, to say in the least.

Disclaimer: Really?

Chapter Four

August 19, 2012

Dear Diary,

I've been sick these last couple of days. It was nothing serious, just a bad cold. But since my nose was extremely stuffy, it made it a heinous task to sleep and breathe at night. To relieve myself of this personal hell, I decided to take Sudafed last night to make it better in time for school.

I should've read the side effects before taking it. Along with the usual effects that are in over-the-counter meds, Sudafed also can cause some minor hallucinations. Me, being the special snowflake that I am, assumed that I would not be affected by minor hallucinations. I could not have been more wrong.

Thank God I took the Sudafed before I went to sleep because I can't imagine something like this happening in real life. However, that didn't make the dream/nightmare I had any less creepy. I mean, this experience has turned me off to actual hardcore drugs more than years of health class ever have.

I closed my locker and jumped when I noticed James' face right where the door had previously been. He had a crazed stalker-ish look in his eye that didn't sit well with me.

"One way or another, I'm gonna find you," James whispered.

"What are you talking about? I'm right here," I snapped as I started to walk away. Unfortunately, he followed.

"I'm gonna get you. One way or another, I'm gonna win you, Evans."

I started walking faster. This was most definitely the creepiest encounter with Potter I had ever had. My vision was distorted and blurry and everything was too loud, as though I was having a migraine.

"One way or another, I'm gonna see you and I'm gonna meet you," James' voice was now an echo in my head. I looked around for him and found that he was no longer there, and I wasn't in the crowded school hallway like I thought. I was in the middle of the street, alone, about three blocks away from my house.

I shook my head and kept walking, trying not to focus on anything because it made my head hurt even more. I leapt about a foot in the air when the voice started again, sounding like it was being whispered in my ear.

"One day, maybe next week, I'm gonna meet you."

I looked up and found I was in my driveway. Everything was sliding in and out of focus and I felt my throat closing up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar dark messy head peek out of the bushes by my mailbox. I whipped around to see James Potter sitting there with a pair of binoculars trained on me.

"I will drive past your house. And if the lights are all out, I'll see who's around," he sang, never taking his eyes off me. I felt my pulse quicken as sweat gathered up all over my body.

I think this is what someone taking ecstasy and/or LSD experiences when they're in their high. It's awful. I wanted to die, but dream-Lily wasn't listening to my mental cries for help. It's like I wasn't even questioning the random time and place jumps, I was just worried about getting away from James, who is a surprisingly good singer, by the way.

I was in my room, in front of the window. I was extremely cold now and was rubbing my hands up and down my arms in an effort to keep warm. My legs were jumpy and I could feel my face twitching.

James was now standing in front of my window, banging away on his guitar. "One way or another, I'm gonna find you. I'm gonna get you. One way or another, I'm gonna win you, Evans!"

My vision was flickering on and off and I had to fight to remain in control of my legs. I felt like I was having a seizure or something.

Suddenly I was swinging in the park a block away from my house, seemingly alone. I breathed a sigh of relief, hoping this torture was nearly over. It wasn't. Of course it wasn't.

James was pushing me on the swings. I tried to yell out, but my voice wouldn't work. My hands felt like they were glued to the metal chains, and my feet always seemed just out of reach of the ground.

"And if the lights are all out, I'll follow your bus downtown and see who's hanging out," he drawled, pulling me to a stop. I leapt out of the swing and started running as fast as I could.

The one thing I hate about dreams is that no matter how fast you run, it's never fast enough. It's like running underwater, but whoever is chasing you never seems to have that problem. It's like the fat kid in gym class versus Usain Bolt, but a Bolt who toys with you and stays right on your heels, never catching you because he enjoys the chase.

I looked behind me, convinced that I had left Potter in the dust because I had never run that fast before in my life. My eyes went wide when I saw that he was right on my tail, laughing like a maniac. Looking down, I noticed his legs were not legs, but a thick black smoke, like he was riding on the wind.

"I wanna hold you tight, Evans. Because one way or another, I'm gonna see you. I'm gonna meet you."

Now we were running on the deserted train tracks. I wasn't that great of a runner when I was running on flat asphalt, so running on rocks while trying not to trip on the tracks was no easy feat.

He was running alongside me and was obviously having no problem with the tracks. "Hey, Evans, guess what?"

"What?" I gasped.

"One way or another, I'm gonna win you," he said. "Oh, and I'd watch out for that train if I were you."

"What?" I screamed, looking up to see a scarlet steam engine barreling toward me. I tried to stop, to turn, to do something, but my body wouldn't cooperate.

As it grew closer, I closed my eyes and gave up. Accepted my death. My head felt like it was going to split open. The train's whistle grew louder and louder as I ran closer and closer to the end. I wish it would stop. I wish I would die already. I would give anything to be dead, to end this eternal hell.

I could feel the steam on my face, and as I reached out my fingers touched cool metal. It was like time slowed down. I slowly opened my eyes to see that the train couldn't be more than a foot away.

"Lils," a voice spoke in my ear.

It was James, but not the stalker James that had scared the crap out of me in this Sudafed-induced nightmare. It was the James from the first dream; the James that made me row us out to the middle of the lake and made fun of me when I could barely do it.

"Together, or not at all," he whispered, giving me a small smile.

"Together?" I repeated, sounding like a child.

"Always."

That's when we died, and I woke up. I guess it was kind of romantic, if you only look at the end of the dream. Dying, together, with the one you love. It's something you only see in TV and movies, and dreams I guess. I can only hope that my future husband loves me as much as James seems to.

I learned three things today. One: Never take Sudafed or anything other than Tylenol PM before you go to bed. Two: Never go to sleep while listening to music, especially creepy stalker songs like One Way or Another. And finally, three: Even nightmares can have a happy ending if you look hard enough for it. There's always that silver lining if you care enough to search for it.

Love always,

Lily

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