REM // Van McCann

6. Jealousy

"I—I'll get the fish and chips," he finally answered. I've never seen Larry so nervous before. He only acts like this around...oh! Of course. Larry fancies her. I saw her writing down his order.

"Is that all? Is there anything else I can get you?" she asked.

"Yeah, can I get your number?" I heard dream me ask and I just about choked on my spit. This isn't supposed to happen!

Dream me was a jerk, flirting with her when it was clear that Larry fancied her. It took everything in my power to not intervene. And the worst part was that she wrote her number on the order pad and handed it to me, winking. Fuck's sake—he's gonna resent me for stealing his girl.

Larry's demeanor changed entirely. Earlier, he was a nervous wreck but now he was quiet and withdrawn. It was clear he was upset about what happened but dream me paid no attention to him. All I did was boast about getting her number saying she was fit. It was difficult to watch as I would never be this insensitive to someone else's feelings but I couldn't do anything about it.

She later brought the food out. Dream me and Larry ordered the same exact dish and even though I was far away, it was clear that my plate had more food than his. I groaned and put my face in my hands wanting this nightmare to be over. The same lass later approached me but showed no signs of recognizing me. I asked for a glass of water as I wasn't planning to stay long.

The next half hour was painful to watch. Dream me was talking non-stop, not noticing how withdrawn Larry was. He was playing with his food that had since gone cold and he excused himself to the toilet. When he came back, he asked for the bill and started wearing his coat.

"Where are you off to?" Bondy asked.

"Gonna head home. I've got some errands to run," Larry replied, not looking them in the eye. A person brought him the bill and asked if he'd like a takeaway container but he shook his head. "I'll see yas tomorrow." Larry waved goodbye and headed towards the door. I stood up to follow him. Once we were far enough from the door, I shouted at him to slow down.

"Larry!" I called. Larry turned to look at me but continued on, not bothering to slow down. I had to run to catch up to him.

"Why are you following me?" he asked. His question was bizarre and then it hit me that he thought I was dream Van.

"Mate—it's me. Real Van. You left dream Van back there in the pub," I explained. One look at his face and I realized he didn't know he was dreaming. Perhaps he thought this was real life. This is his first time going under while hungover.

"I would never do that to you," I went on. "It's clear that you fancy her. Did ya actually think I'd do such a thing?" Larry continued walking. It was clear he was upset with me. "This is a dream, Larry. I dunno who she is but she doesn't work at the pub. Molly does. If you want, we can walk back and you'll see dream me still in there."

Larry picked up his pace and he surprisingly walks fast when wanting to get rid of someone. He expertly dodged the crowd buying him seconds.

"Look around you!" I shouted. "Notice anything off?" The walk signal was red and he had nowhere to go. "Look at the street signs. You got this street wrong. It's Greenwood Avenue not Greenberg Avenue. And this bench doesn't belong here." He followed where I pointed, realizing that we were dreaming. His anger was slowly being replaced by shock.

"And the worst thing you did was make me eat with my right hand when you know I'm left-handed," I added, grinning and Larry laughed, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes it's hard to tell. My dreams can be realistic at times," he replied.

His demeanor completely changed. Earlier, he was upset but now his shoulders were slumped and he held his head low, apologetic and embarrassed. I've known Larry for so long. He struggles with his confidence. He wishes he was taller and had more striking features. Dream me's behavior in the pub was his worst nightmare. He was afraid that I was going to steal his girl. Although the likelihood of that happening was low, it was the emotions that made the dream real to him. The feeling of betrayal, jealousy, and anger were so strong that it made him overlook everything else. You can't fake emotions because they come from within.

Now that we were on the same page, we were at a loss for how to go on. We were put in an awkward situation where I saw Larry's insecurities and jealousy at play, and unfortunately for me—I was at the brunt of it. It was never his intention to let me know. He's the one who let me into his dreams so he shouldn't apologize.

"There are no hard feelings," I told him, putting my hand on his shoulder, smiling slightly. "You're the one letting me into your dreams. I wasn't supposed to see any of this and you can't control your dreams." I squeezed his shoulder and let go. "I meant what I said earlier about how I'd never hurt you like that."

"Never is a strong word," Larry responded, smiling so I knew not to take him seriously. "You said you'd never smoke weed yet here you are."

"Fair enough," I hummed. "Who is she by the way?" I've never seen her before and Larry never mentioned a love interest.

"She moved in across from me about a month ago. She's dead gorgeous and always knocking on my door asking for help." I crossed my arms, grinning.

"Asking for help, eh?" I teased and Larry immediately turned red, shaking his head.

"No, not like that! Help with setting up her telly and internet."

He was cautious about telling me more about her so I decided to drop the conversation. You can read a person sometimes. Some people are happy to talk while others are guarded. He'd much rather talk about something else.

"Well the code works for sure," I said, changing the subject. "We're in the same dream. So do you wanna stay here or wake up?"

"I'm not hungover here. As much as I'd like to stay, I've got shit to do."

Another difference between Bondy and Larry are how they like to wake up. Bondy's keen on being shot while Larry prefers not dying and being in pain which is more my taste.

"Let's jump into the water, yeah?" I suggested and he nodded his head.

We both know the way to the lake which is known for kayaking and boat traffic rather than swimming. The green-blue waters are calm, but since it's in the city, everyone knows how filthy it is. I'd rather not go swimming but it's loads better than being shot at. We crossed the bridge that spanned a small section of the lake. The mallards bobbed their head underwater in search of food. Once we were at the center of the bridge, we stopped and rested our arms on the railing. I held onto the railing and brought one leg over and then the other so I was now facing Larry. There were people eyeing me, wondering what I was doing but I paid no attention to them.

"See ya on the other side," I told him. I squeezed my nose shut with my hand and jumped off, pushing myself away from the bridge. Either the feeling of falling or the water will wake me up. In this case, it was the fall.

My hands gripped my chair as I tried to break my fall. The sudden movement was enough to wake me up. I removed my mask and began taking off my probes one by one. Bondy watched me eagerly and I knew what he wanted to know.

"We saw each other," I replied, standing up and wrapping the wires tightly around my hand to put away.

Moments later, Larry woke up in the same manner, jolting awake. He was temporarily confused but then remembered where he was and took off his mask. He groaned when the miserable feeling of being hungover came back.

"Christ, I need paracetamol," he grumbled, making his way towards the kitchen. I put my probes neatly in the kit and began working on organizing Larry's probes.

"We need more milk," Larry called out, his head in the fridge. I finished putting away the kit and anesthesia.

"I can run to the store," I offered.