While I'm alone and blue as can be, dream a little dream of me,
Stars fading but I linger on dear...
I'm longing to linger till dawn here...
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you,
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be,
Dream a little dream of me...

Zoe stirred. The sweet, familiar notes of the 1960's song played through her mind, and the words cast a warm feeling of well-being over her. Someone was playing this song for her. Someone was thinking about her when listening to these lyrics.
Zoe didn't know how she could possibly know this, but she felt it deep down. She wanted to be with that person right now. Whoever it might be. All she knew was that she would find comfort and peace there; wrapped in a halo of affectionate security.

A scraping sound jolted her awake. Zoe's eyes snapped open, and she sat up quickly. She blinked at the light of late noon filtering into the room through the window. She widened her eyes tiredly, and stared dumb struck at the boy sitting with his long legs folded beneath him.
"You sleep like the dead." He said.
Zoe frowned, disoriented, scanning the room. She looked at the packet of McDonalds that he pushed closer to her. She met his blue gaze stupidly.
"If you're not hungry, I'll have your share." He said almost threateningly.
"I thought you didn't like to come here." Zoe said, and her voice sounded pathetically weak.

"It's a bit uncomfortable." Jess admitted. "But everyone needs a place of refuge. This happens to be mine, from time to time."
"Is Haley here?" Zoe asked.
"Haley's at school. And Davis is at the police station, if you were wondering where he's gone to. They've got him in for questioning."
"Questioning for what?" Zoe breathed, shocked.
"About your whereabouts. He's one of the few people who saw you last." Jess said, and casually leaned his elbow on his knee. "People are looking for you."

Zoe looked away and pursed her lips tightly.
"Your dad was at my house last night." Jess said.
Zoe glanced at him sharply. "What?"
"I wasn't allowed to be present, but I caught scraps of things they said. Did you know your parents are afraid of you?"
"What?" Zoe repeated dumbly.
"My dad and Faye have been at each other since last night. They've been fighting non-stop. Over you." Jess said, and tilted his head to the side to stare at her. "Curious, don't you think? My dad wants to talk to you, but Faye's forbidden him to. She says it's better that things play out for a bit and see how you react to it, rather than trying to protect you from it. She's convinced it's the only way you'll actually believe and understand what's going on."

"And what is going on?" Zoe asked.
"I don't know." Jess said quietly, and for a moment she could see her own terror of the unknown reflected in his eyes.
"What was my dad doing at your house?" Zoe asked after a solemn silence befell them.
"Not sure on that either. I think he was arranging for your parents and mine to meet up for coffee, something of that sort."

A loud beeping noise filled the room suddenly. Jess took out his phone and glanced at it. He cut the beeping off, and placed the phone on the floor between them. He seemed to struggle for words.
"My mom was in hysterics all night. When she got a call from your dad, asking if you were at our house, she just went nuts. I couldn't get her to calm down, so I went and told my dad that you've been reported as missing and mom's gone crazy." Jess fell silent, and swallowed hard. "And Dad came home. Early. He never comes home from a hunt before the two week stretch is over."

"I don't get it." Zoe said softly. "Why would they freak out over me? They don't even know me."
"That's what I've been wondering, too." Jess said, and ran a hand through his blonde hair. In the sunlight, his hair looked almost white. "I've never seen Dad so angry before. The worst is that I don't know who he's angry at. I thought he might be mad at Faye, but she's just as pissed off as he is. At any rate, she's the only one who can talk to him without shitting herself. Not even my mom feels safe with him at this stage...for good reason. We go hunting for a reason."

Fear chased the cobwebs from Zoe's exhausted mind.
"Anyway, my parents seem to be far more upset about your disappearance than yours does." Jess added. He sighed heavily. "Not that they're not worried. Just... my parents are more frantic to find you as soon as possible."
"I think my mom disowned me." Zoe said suddenly, quietly. She didn't meet his surprised gaze. "She told me to call her Linda. She said..." Zoe swallowed hard, and felt awful as the tears stubbornly came again. "She said that I'm not like them."

She fought to gain control of herself. Jess said nothing, but when Zoe looked at him again, there was compassion in his expression.
"You should eat something." Jess finally invaded the silence.
Zoe didn't. Her appetite was curbed. The phone started its persistent beeping again.
"Is that your mom?" Zoe asked.
"It's Faye." Jess said, glancing at it wearily. "My parents are too caught up in your disappearance to notice that I'm gone, too."

"I'm sorry." Zoe said, and sobbed into her hands.
"Hey, don't cry. Look, it's okay. You're not really missing, and I'm here so you're not alone. I'll keep you safe, I promise."
Strangely, Zoe found comfort in his words. She believed him.
"We'll go out of town. Do something fun, somewhere nobody knows us. I think we both need a break from all this insanity."

Ooo888ooO

A/N: I'm really trying to refrain from posting notes to my readers because I feel like I'm putting hiccups in the flow of the story. But I do feel like I need to say this. If you're reading, please please leave a review. I don't like authors who blackmail their readers by saying if they don't get X amount of reviews, there won't be any more updates, and I really don't want to be classed as one of them. I love writing, and I love writing this story. But I'm posting it up to share with you guys, and I'm not feeling the love! I know a couple of you have this fic on your story alerts – please review so I know you're reading. If you're not reading, it's not worth continuing.

Rule of thumb from hereon: if I can get at least one review for every last chapter that I upload, that will be enough for me to keep it up. You don't have to review every chapter because I sometimes post up more than one chapter at once. Just review the last one uploaded.