When it comes to M&Ms, there are different views on how one should eat them. Perhaps the most common being grabbing a handful and just chowing the down. I've always tended to eat them a different way.

I pulled the pack of M&Ms from my chest pocket. Carefully pouring them out in the placemat in front of me as Linda looks over the cafe menu.

"Are you getting your usual?"

Without even looking up from my task I nod. "Rarer the better."

"I don't know how you can stand eating that much rare meat. You've got to be the only person in this twin to have three extra rare patties on a burger."

I just grin, my eyes glued to my task as so goes back to deciding on her own order. When it comes to my way of eating M&Ms, I divide them up in groups by color. Then start with the smallest group and work my way up. If they are even at any point, I pick my least favorite color of the group and so on. I occasionally take one and bite right in, but the rest of the time I pop it in and suck the candy coating off and let the chocolate melt away on my tongue.

I pay little attention as our waitress arrives to collect our orders. Linda gets hers out of the way before stating mine. As she writes it down I speak up to correct it a bit.

"I want two chocolate shakes and extra fries, please." My eyes haven't even left the last of the colored M&Ms in front of me. With a nod, she moves on to get our orders in.

Only the red M&Ms now lay before me. I find this rather odd. It's usually the browns that are last left. As I scrutinize them as if they have said something most offensive, Linda speaks up softly.

"Before I forget, you need to take one of these." She shakes a bottle of medicine in front of me. I give her a look of disgust as she pours two out, handing them to me before nudging my water towards me.

"Don't make this harder then it really is Bobby. Just take them and get it over with."

I glare at her pathetically, but she gives me a stern look in return. Defeated I place them in my mouth and drink the water. It doesn't go to well. I choke as it feels very unnatural as the pills make it to the back of my throat. Gasping, I inhale the water and it goes down the wrong way. As I grab at my throat sputtering, Linda jumps up and slaps me in the back until I find I can breath again. Gasping on gulps of air. My throat is raw and I just glare at Linda again.

"How the hell do you screw up taking pills bobby?" She's not actually angry, I can tell from the look of worry and relief on her face. Taking a careful sip of my water I respond with a croak. "I've never had to take pills before." Some how this shocks her as her mouth hangs open. "What?" She sighs heavily as she rubs her forehead. "You should have told me. I could have tried to get a liquid form or something. I'll have to crush these up for you in something or you'll never take them at all." I snicker at that cause it is so true. The ones I had just taken feel unsettling on my stomach as it is.

By the time I finish the large group of red M&Ms, my tongue is coated a bright red as the last one melts away. I'm glad to see our food arrive by the time this happens. The candy has done nothing to help with the hunger gnawing in my gut. The delicious smell of my burger hits me and I feel drool collect in my mouth. I feel like I'm holding a glass of water in my mouth by the time the waitress places my order in front of me.

"Wow Bobby, I don't thing I've seen you look so hungry." She hands me a napkin as I now notice the drool has been escaping. I swallow what I can before using the napkin to whip what's left on my face. My cheeks burn red in embarrassment. I'm glad I had ordered so much food. I barely spare a moment before picking up and taking a large bigot out of my burger. I happen to look up to see Linda staring wide eyed.

"I could have sworn I just saw your jaw unhinge like a snake or something just then. How do you do that? I can't even get two patties in my own mouth." She chuckles, smiling found.y at me.

"It takes talent." I snort when I can talk again. "That and no idea how long since you last ate a good meal." She looks a bit saddened by this realization. A small nod as she looks at her own food. "You don't remember how you got there...and the darnest thing is I want to say I saw you yesterday...but the looks of you when you came falling out of that pipe...it was as if you'd been held prisoner for days, maybe month." She picks at her food as she tells me all this.

I place my own food aside a moment as I focus on what she's just said.

"I'd say I've felt like it's been longer...You know no one has ever took me seriously in the past when I said I blacked out for long periods of time." She nodded, now looking up at me.

"This was another one of those times. But I've given up trying to tell people that."

"I believe you." My eyes widen with surprise as Linda looks at me seriously,

"I wasn't here until after the last time it happened. We'd just moved into town then. I remember you telling me how frightening it was..."

I remembered that days as well. I had confessed how frightened I was of it happening again at any moment. She'd hugged me tight and said she'd make sure I'd have nothing to fear again. I wonder often that's the only reason she became a cop. To keep a childhood promise alive.

"I failed you Bobby." I didn't expect to her that. Staring confused I can see tears threatening to flow over as Linda stares at me.

"I promised to keep you safe and I'd make sure to help you find out what happened when you did black out again. Instead of keeping my promise, I found you injured and starving, who the hell knows what else. I failed my best friend and I don't even know how I could have done that." She looked away as she clenched her fists, a sob ripping through her.

How could I not have noticed how hard all of this was on her? How didn't I see this the moment she found me? He do something I rarely would ever thing of doing. I reach out and take her hands in mind, squeezing them softly.

"Linda, I forgive you."

She looks at me unsure with blood shot eyes, "you...do?"

I nod, squeezing her hands again. "You are the only one ever to believe me and ever to truly notice something was wrong. Whatever is happening, we'll figure it out together. Who better the you to help me solve this puzzle?"

She chuckled, giving a warm smile, nodding as she composes herself again. "You're right." She rubbed the tears away quickly, "you'd never figure this out without me." We both chuckle at that before getting back to our meals.

I finish everything and still feel I could eat more. At least the sharp pain of hunger seems to have dulled. Linda even let me finish the last of her own meal. Promising to get me more soon, not wanting me to get sick eating to quickly. But honestly I feel I'll be ill if I don't eat more soon.
She pays the bill, though I start to get ready to protest before remembering all forms of payment I would have are not on me.

In the vehicle, I begin to buckle up as she starts the engine, "I'll go get you some groceries and we'll head back to your place after. You should stay in the car while I do that. Get some rest if you can." With a nod, I sigh agreeing with her. I feel exhausted now that I've eaten and the adrenaline has left my veins.

I jump suddenly from the sudden sound of a car door slamming. Staring about confused, Linda is staring at me with an impish grin, "You really were out cold weren't you?" She chuckles before I turn to see the groceries in the back of the patrol car. When had we gotten to the store? Now I notice the large sign staring at me from the above the windshield.

"W..when did we get here?"
"I'd guess about an hour ago. I figured I could take a bit longer seeing you didn't wake when I told you I was heading in. You looked too cute to wake up just for that." She's making a face in a mocking cute manner. I'm a big too grumpy for this, and sneer, shoving her. This only spurs her on to laugh all the harder.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop. But you are cute when you sleep Bobby. I ain't lying."

I manage to stay awake the rest of the drive. It doesn't take long for us to reach my house. It's in a normal enough neighborhood. A house on either side and another behind it like all the others on this street. The only way you can really tell it's mine is that it doesn't have all that fancy yard work the others around me insist on having done. I barely keep the lawn cut as it is. The only thing that really grows without me needing to interfere are the sunflowers. I don't remember ever planting them. They just are there. Always. Never a year does it go by without them coming back after winter.

The tree out front is oddly looking ill. It's usually lush and full of leaves and wonderful shade this time of year. Instead I can see through the leaves that are there and it feels like there are shadows that shouldn't be there. I'm suddenly not a fan of that tree. Doesn't help that my house suddenly feels all the more dark and eerie. It has a dark blue exterior with matching roof. The widow shutters are more green while the windows themselves are a white matching the assents of the house. The porch and rails are the same color. An older home in appearance and design from the others on the street.

My brow frowns as I stare longer. It appears the paint has worn a bit and chipped away. Some growth is making its way up the siding that I don't remember being there before. To add to it all, my lawn appears to have gotten out of hand. The grass looks around shin high compared to when I last cut it. Even the fencing around my property looks to have worn and rusted in my absence.

I'm not the only one to notice as Linda parks and looks out my passenger window. "What the hell happened to this place?" She looks just as shocked as I feel.
We get out and both take bags as we head through the gate.
"Okay, if this isn't evidence enough, I don't know what is. It really does look like you've been missing for a year. Maybe even more. You had a fresh coat on this place last I visited. This just doesn't happen over night."
"It's never looked liked this before… not one of the other times I lost time. It's always looked like I never left. Fresh, clean, but this, this is wear that can't just take place over one day of missing."

I grab the spare key under the welcome mat, the door creaks loudly as it opens. I'll need to make sure to oil that. In fact, I might need to do that with all the doors by the looks of the inside. The entire place is covered in a layer of dust. Cobwebs appear about as I spot spiders scurry and others eat what they've caught. A shiver goes down my spin as I head to the kitchen and place the bags on the counter. Linda does the same, obviously in as much shock of the inside as the out. "Bobby… this is really freaking me out now. I believed you before, but now it's really sinking in."
"Welcome to my world." I snort, though I feel overwhelmed with a new fear, but relief as well. I'm not crazy, someone else sees this, but what does that mean about all the other people that said I was imagining it. Acting as if this was nothing but a dream to me.

"Linda… you're the first person to believe me and see all this with me. I've told the authorities and others about this time and time again and they never believed me. Just shrugged this off as a dream or something else. Lin… what if there is something more going on here… you don't think the town is in on something do you?"

She looks at me worried. I'm wouldn't be surprised if she has already been thinking this herself. "You weren't born here Lin… maybe… maybe that's why you aren't affected the same as the rest of the town. What if it's some kind of conspiracy and we're the only ones that know the truth. Those kids, they were talking like it was. They know. They have to know something more then we both do." I can feel my panic rising. My chest feels tight as I suddenly find it harder to breath. The world begins to feel like it is going into the distance as my body shakes and a strange crying noise escapes me. I can feel my cheeks suddenly wetting, I can't take this. I just can't!

Warm arms embrace me, rubbing my back gently, speaking softly to me. Linda guides me to a chair and keeps doing the same as she sits beside me.
"Bobby, I need you to try and breath slowly. Count to ten." She holds me and helps me count. She's not even talking about what just caused me panic anymore. Something about how she's thinking of decorating her place. I can't help snorting and chuckling at that. I didn't notice how calm I am until she pulls away with a smile. "That's better. I'll get these things put away for you. Why don't you try and clean up a bit. Are you still hungry?" I nod vigorously. "Alright, I'll get to working on something for you after I finish."

She stands, ruffling my hair in the way she knows I despise. I swipe at her, playfully in a groan, but she's already putting things away. With a long sigh and a deep breath I get up to start work on at least dusting first. I'm not sure how to go about it really. It's so thick, even the furniture isn't the right color anymore. I groan knowing what I have to do. Making my way to the hall closet I retrieve the vacuum and lug it out to the living room. It's going to take time to get everything clean again. Shaking my head, I focus on one thing at a time before I can start into another melt down.

I had at least the living room down by the time Linda called me back to the kitchen. She'd been able to clean it up the kitchen nicely. I was impressed as I took a seat at the table where a large sandwich and chips sat waiting for me.
"Sorry it took a bit. Wasn't sure what you wanted for a dink. Any preference?" She stood by the fridge with a large cup.
"I think a water will be fine, thanks Lin. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you."
"It's nothing Bobby. What are friends for." She dumped some ice cubes in the glass before filling it to almost the top with water. She took as seat as she placed the glass in front of me.

"I need to go for a bit. Fill out some paperwork and snoop around a little. See if I can find anything odd or points out your theory. So, I want you to rest as much as you can. I'll be coming back after I'm off work." I was about to say she didn't need too when she lifted her hand, shaking her head, "None of that. I said I was going to keep an eye on you for signs of head injury and I'm going to do that. Even if that means I have to sleep over on your couch for the night." She grinned, "Don't take too much time cleaning while I'm away. You've had a hard day. I'm surprised you have so much energy after just an hour of sleep." She pushed out of her seat, placing the chair back, "If you need anything before I get back, the number for the station is where it's always been. Just call and if I'm not there, they'll radio me and I'll be here as quick as I can." With a fond kiss to the top of my head, she made her way out. I shouted goodbye before hearing the door click behind me. Taking the now silent room in before I ate.