[ONESHOT] Reality
Description
Another random fic. I think this might be a bit complicated for your brain to wrap around it? ^^;
Inspired by music - You and I by Park Bom
Foreword
She stepped onto the cold surface of the boulder as the deafening roars of the white waves crashed against the dark jagged rocks a hundred feet below her. No one would survive the long drop down to the rocks. Its sharp spikes would either split your skull or the powerful waves would drown the person under its current.
She took another step closer to the edge and looked down. She wondered how it would feel like to just let oneself free, jumping off the cliff and into a freefall, experiencing life's last moments before it is forever gone. Free from whatever they were going through, free from adhering to society’s expectations, free from the fear of rejection and uncertainty but most importantly, free to be with the person that you love.
She didn’t make a move to push back her wind blown hair that slapped around her face nor bothered by the biting cold and the light rain that had seeped through the thin material of her shirt and jeans. She didn’t care. She could withstand all these just as long as he was with her.
She looked back, hoping to see him but there was no one. She sighed and sat down, dangling her legs over the cliff’s edge. Thoughts ran through her mind as she sat there staring into the vast, dark ocean and bit her lips.
Today was no different from the other days. She and her husband had fought again. It became a daily routine ever since that day a year ago. She found out that her husband was involved in corporate scandal with his mistress at her family's company. She was furious and sad at the same time that he would do something like this to her. Her trust in him was forever lost.
She didn’t hand him over to the police when they came knocking on their door, instead she found the most powerful lawyer to represent him and by all her means, she worked to prevent any negative news to fall on his or her family. She controlled the media and by pulling some strings, they were forced to emit sensitive information. In the end, her husband made it through as an innocent man.
That was the story everyone was fed to believe and even their families bought the lie. She did all these, not because she once loved him but for the sake of their families and businesses. She couldn’t imagine the extent the internationally well-known conglomerate group would be affected due to this scandal. She couldn’t take the risk and now she has to bear the decision.
The never ending fights with her husband had left her mentally and physically tired and she doesn’t know how much longer she can take it. She sniffed and wiped away her tears just as a pair of strong arms reached for her and pulled her away from the cliff.
“Are you out of your mind? You could have fallen to your death.” The man that she had been waiting for eyed her sternly.
“Maybe that’s what I want.” She smiled wearily and his expression immediately softened.
“Don’t think about silly things like this Amber.” She bit her lips as he embraced her and buried her face in his shoulder. He patted her back and whispered comforting words into her ear as her body trembled in his arms.
“I’m fine.” She reluctantly pulled away from his warm embrace and ran the back of her hands across her cheeks.
"That's what you say but you're not."
“True.” She stared at him and studied the face that never ceased to make her smile. “But seeing you always cheer me up no matter what Henry.” She reached out and cupped his cheek. “You just seem to have that effect on me.”
He returned the smile and looked down bashfully before finding her eyes again. He held out his hand for her but she pinched him instead.
“Ow! What did you do that for?” He flinched at the ant bite pain.
She smiled. “To know this is real. That you’re real," she whispered.
He paused and at that moment, he knew that it has to stop.
But what has to stop? His love for this woman that keeps him coming back or the dream that allowed her to see him?
“Amber, I’ve told you many times. This,” He gestured to the place around them. “Is just an imagination of yours. It’s all in your head. This place doesn’t exist. I don’t exist," he muttered.
“You’re lying. How can you not be real?” She laughed. “I pinched you and it hurt you. Doesn’t that mean you are here with me?”
“Then answer me. Do you know how you arrive at this cliff by the ocean? This a remote place and the only means of transport would be an aircraft but there isn’t anything here except for open space.” Her smile faltered and his heart fell to see the unhappiness on her face but he continued as the place darkened and the scenery changed into something else. “And can you explain how we got here when we were at the cliff just seconds ago?” She tore her gaze from him and gasped.
The cliff and crashing ocean waves have disappeared and they were surrounded by dark dead woods where the sun lay hidden behind the clouds, casting the entire place in gloom. She took a step back and jumped in fright when she stepped on a dry twig. “W-wh-here are we?” she stuttered.
“I don’t know. You tell me. You’re the one controlling the dream.” She whipped around to face him and screamed when a pair of red eyes appeared in the darker part of the woods. “Get us out of here!” She tugged his arm and shut her eyes, praying for the woods to go away.
“You can open your eyes now.” She did as told and watched in awe as she took the new surroundings. “This place is beautiful,” she whispered. “How did we get here?”
They stood at the top of a small hill overlooking the golden forest which looked magnificently gorgeous as it stood out against the dark skies in the horizon where a storm seemed to be brewing.
“You controlled the dream.”
“Now, do you believe me when I say that this is all a dream?” He dropped onto the ground and pulled his legs to his chest.
“Henry, I don’t care if it's a dream.” She sat next to him and lay her head on his shoulder. “You’re here with me. That’s all it matters.”
“Amber., he sighed and closed his eyes. I cannot be selfish and let her be in this dream any longer. “You have to stop this. You have to stop dreaming.” He caught her shoulders and shook her as if it would knock some sense into her. “I don’t want to. If this is a dream, all I want to do is to be here. This is definitely better than facing him.” He knew that she was referring to her husband.
“But you can’t do this. You can’t lose yourself in here. The longer you stay and unwilling to leave, the harder it is for you wake up and you’ll never be able to return to reality.” She avoided looking at him and was pulling at the patch of grass between them. “No.”
“Amber you can’t be running away from your problems like this! What about your family? Have you ever thought about them?” She angrily pushed away his hands when he tried to stop her from pulling the ground bald. “It’s because I care too much about them that led me to this!” She shouted.
“To cover up the scandal, I fabricated lies to keep everyone else satisfied except me! But because I care too much for them that I’m willing to imprison myself in this doomed marriage!” She slapped him across the face and he let her be. “I had no one that I could pour my heart out to until I met you. You’re the only reason for my happiness and you’re telling me to stop dreaming?!” She cried.
“But I’m not real.”
“I don’t care, don’t you understand what I’ve been trying to tell you?!”
“You don’t care but I do.” He lifted her face and ran both thumbs across her cheeks, wiping away the trail of tears. “You have a life to lead and there are many years ahead of you. How can I be so insensitive to keep you here?” He gave her a small smile and tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear. She stares at him blankly and silence ensued.
“How did you enter my dream? I’ve never once met you. My dreams are my imaginations but how can you appear in it if I haven’t seen you before?” She didn’t notice his frozen expression and he kept quiet. “Henry, can I ask you something?”
“This dreams have been happening for a year now and I know it may sound ridiculous since this is a dream and all, but you know,” She gestured her hands wildly and avoided looking at him. “I just have to get this off my chest before anything else weird happens again. Who knows, maybe I’ll miss th—“ He gently places his hand over hers and laughed.
“Amber, I’m still here. No need to rush through your words.” He laughed again and a smile slowly appeared on her face as she watches him. “Now, rearrange your words and tell me what it is that you want to ask me.”
“Do you love me?” The words that came out of was as clear as the cloudless blue sky above their heads and a grin stretched across his face. “I do.”
“Good.” She said and leaned into him. He smiled briefly before her lips met his and she pushed him back until he was on the ground with her lying on top of him. He pushed her hair aside and cupped her cheek while the other arm was wrapped around her waist. She giggled against his lips and struggles in his grasp as he tickled her sides. “You just have to ruin the moment huh?”
Henry shrugged his shoulders and she rested her chin on her folded hands on his chest. Amber laughed aloud when he started making funny faces at her and she sighed contently. She ran a finger down his nose before tracing it along his jaw. “I love you.”
He sat them up on the ground and he held her chin. “I love you too.” He whispered and placed soft a kiss on her lips. “Now, you have to wake up.” Her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.
“Wake up Amber.”
She jolted from her sleep and pushed herself to a sitting position on the bed. Amber looked around her dark room and sighed when it came back to her. “Why did the dream have to end?” She jerked in surprised when the French doors leading to the balcony suddenly swung open at the gust of wind and the curtains billowed. “The maid must have forgotten to lock it again.”
Henry stood by the French doors, watching her cross the room to close the doors that he had opened to let himself into her room. Much to the contrary belief, he couldn’t walk through walls or people or rather, anything that’s solid. He followed Amber back to her bed after she had locked the doors and knelt by her bedside as she climbed under the sheets.
“Why does it feel like I won’t get to dream about him anymore?” Amber yawned and rubbed her eyes tiredly before pulling the comforter under her chin. “Maybe I’m just thinking too much.” She yawned again and drifted off to sleep, not knowing that there was someone watching her.
He only allowed himself to touch her face when he was sure that she was in deep slumber. Henry ran his knuckles across her cheek and got to his feet.
“You’ll never ever dream of me again. I’ve sworn to myself that you shouldn’t be caught up with escaping life harships by dreaming, no matter how bad it is.” The tips of his fingers brushed the top of her hair. “But I’ll always be here watching over you. I’ll be one of those.. what do you call them?” He snapped his fingers, trying to remember. “Ah, yes, guardian angels. As cheesy as it may sound.” He chuckled.
“Sleep tight.”
He stoops low and pecked her cheek, smiling before disappearing into thin air.
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