Evie's POV
"So you want us to tell Zayn - in case he asks - that you went to Ireland for work?" Liam asked, looking a bit puzzled.
"But the real reason is that you're going with your friend to look for someone...?" Danielle added, looking even more confused.
The three of us were at the office pantry for our lunch break, and I finally decided that I was going to need some outside help.
I sighed and took a bite of my apple. "Yes. It's really complicated and hard to explain."
"Oh trust me honey. We're all ears," Danielle plopped both elbows on the table, like a little child waiting for her mum to tell a story.
I groaned. "You guys have to promise not to tell a single soul or I swear everyone will think I'm insane."
"Lips are sealed," Liam promised as he leaned back on his chair in a relaxed position, waiting for me to kiss and tell.
I ended up mumbling a lot of random things before actually getting to the point. I knew I was going to have to tell them about Harry one day, and I guess this was that day since I badly needed their help.
I actually expected them to be blown away or assume that I was out of my mind, but surprisingly, they took it quite well.
"Oh so when you told me about your lucid dreaming experience, it actually continued every night after that?" Danielle asked.
"Exactly," I nodded.
"And you're going with this Niall dude to Ireland because you think Harry might be there?" Liam questioned.
"Yeah. I mean, there is a slight chance," I answered.
Danielle blew the curly strand of hair off her face and shook her head. "Wow. This is so weird. So like if you actually do meet Harry one day... what's going to happen with Zayn?"
"Our relationship is clearly going downhill right now. To be honest, I have no idea what to do. All I know is that I want to find Harry," I sighed. "I love Zayn, but Harry makes me feel something way different. Something I've never felt before. Sometimes I feel like Zayn's just staying with me because we've been together since forever, but his true love is really his career."
"And it's so weird. I feel like he actually knows Harry and there's something he's not telling me," I added.
"What do you mean?" Liam asked.
I bit my lip. I didn't want to tell them that I mentioned Harry's name during sex because that would be awkward. Maybe if I was only talking to Danielle, but telling Liam as well is kind of weird.
"Uh, I just accidentally called him Harry instead of Zayn," I shrugged.
"I had a feeling," Danielle pursed her lips. "What did Zayn say?"
"Okay so that's where it got weird. He was like, 'You know Harry?'" I threw my hands up in frustration. "Isn't the usual initial reaction to situations like that is 'Who is Harry?' It's really like he knew him."
"Well? Didn't you bug him about it afterwards?" Danielle asked.
"I did for awhile but then I didn't push through with it anymore because he was already pissed off as it is so I didn't want to make the situation even worse," I said.
Liam raised an eyebrow and suggested. "You know, there is a big chance that he does know Harry. But of course even if you bugged him to tell you, he wouldn't. He feels threatened."
"If he won't tell me, then I'm really just going to have to find him myself," I sighed.
***
I opened my eyes and found myself in a massive bowl filled with... gum balls? I blinked three times only to realize that I was already dreaming. Where the hell was I?
I pushed myself off the gigantic glass bowl and managed to get off without tripping on anything.
"Where on earth am I?" I asked out loud. The sound of my voice echoed across the room which ended up being a gigantic, enclosed field of strawberry trees, a chocolate river, and humongous candy-canes. Am I in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory or Katy Perry's California Girls music video? Or both?
"Hello?" I called out one more time.
"You actually made it!" I heard Harry exclaim. When I turned around, I saw standing behind me while holding a huge chocolate bar in his hand.
"Oh my god!" I let out a sigh of relief as I run towards him, wrapping my arms around his neck. For a second I thought I started dreaming of something else already.
He gave me a strange look, and then shrugged it off while pulling me towards the strawberry and marshmallow trees. "Have you tried these? They taste heavenly."
"Wait, where are we?" I asked, looking around in disbelief. "How did we get here?"
"We flew here," he answered nonchalantly.
"Like in a plane?"
He frowned and took a bite of a chocolate apple. "Uh, no? Now are you going to indulge in these treats or what?"
"Like we literally flew? Like... like without wings?"
"Yes," he slouched his shoulders. "What's with all the questions?"
"I don't know Harry, maybe because I'm human and I'm a hundred percent sure that I am not capable of flying?" I spat out.
"Evie, if I were you, I would stop wondering about everything and just bask in this awesomeness that will satisfy your stomach," Harry opened his arms wide in the air, grinning from ear to ear.
"Well, the last time you indulged you got food poisoning," I rolled my eyes, trying to step out of the marshmallow ground that my foot got stuck on.
These were the kinds of dreams that I would normally have before Harry came to my life. Things were slowly going back to normal, and it was scaring the shit out of me.
"Food poisoning?" Harry wrinkled his nose. "When was that?"
"You don't remember?" I crossed my arms, trying to hide the nerves that were about to explode in my system.
"No, not really...? Are you okay?"
"Inconsistency," I mumbled under my breath, feeling the tears slowly fill my eyes.
"What?" Harry asked, cupping my cheeks in his hands.
I pushed him off me and started to run out of his way. I didn't know where I was going, but I kept running. I ended up tumbling down towards one part in the field that was filled with giant lollipops and candy flowers thrice my size.
"I hate this!" I cried. "Take me out of here, please! Let's go back to your boat where everything is normal and we don't have to freaking fly to get anywhere. Please Harry."
I looked up and saw Harry running towards me. He stopped in his tracks and started to slide towards me in the syrup-covered floor with his knees.
"Baby, you need to calm down, okay?" He whispered. His face was so close that our noses were already touching. "I don't understand what's going on. Why don't you like it here? I thought you were going to love it that's why I surprised you."
"It's not a good surprise," I sobbed, wiping a teardrop off my cheek. "I don't like this changes. It just means you will disappear soon. Dr. Spencer was right, this will all end when - "
"Woah, woah, hold up. Who the hell is Dr. Spencer?" Harry interrupted me.
"It doesn't matter. You're just going to try to convince me otherwise," I shrugged.
"Is this about your dreams again?"
"Yes, but there's no point in discussing it with you."
Harry sighed as he sat on the ground, crossing his legs and facing me. "Evie, I don't know how else I'm going to convince to you that I'm real. But I'm glad you started seeing someone to help you with this situation."
"No, you don't understand," I insisted. "This therapist that I'm seeing lives in my real life, not in my dreams - not here with you. She's helping me figure this whole thing out, and once we do, there is a huge possibility that this will all end. Don't you get it? When it ends, it means I will stop dreaming of you. I will stop being here with you."
"I don't care what bullshit you believe in," Harry shook his head firmly. It was the first time I've seen him this serious. "I'm real, Evie. This is as real as it gets."
"How could you possibly expect to believe that you're real when five minutes ago you were just convincing me that we flew here?"
"Because we did!"
"Then that's proof that I am dreaming because I know for sure that I can't fly!" I raised my voice. There was no way that I could make someone like Harry believe that he wasn't real. How do you even convince someone about something like that?
"Evie," his hands gripped on both of my shoulders. "I'm real. I'm fucking real."
"You're not!"
"Evie, stop it! I said I'm real!"
"No!"
"I'm real! Are you crazy? This is your life, here with me. This is your world. Everything else is fake. I don't care what you consider as your real life but I know for sure that it's not the life you're living. It's not the life you should be living. Do you understand me?" he said, sounding quite frustrated. "This is where you belong, with me."
I just sat there, staring at him as he tried to convince me otherwise. Of course I wouldn't understand. As of today, I do not understand a single thing anymore. Maybe he was right. Maybe I am crazy.