At first, I wanted to ditch the headphones. But Jasper convinced me to keep them for a while. He thought they might be important for us to understand our connection better, one of the missing puzzle pieces we needed. I agreed with him because we were both listening to the same melody. It made sense.

Why, if not, would we have been listening to the same melody?

He confided in me about an intense feeling of dread that had been haunting him, and how he felt a mysterious force pulling him towards me. In turn, I opened up to him about the desperate and helpless emotions that had consumed me during my time trapped on the bus, and the unsettling sensation of being in a place where I didn't belong.

Strangely, the environment around us reacted very differently to each other. While the bus opened its doors for him without hesitation, it seemed to resist my every attempt to exit. Even the bus driver herself appeared to be more accommodating towards him, I was in shock when he told me that she had reminded him of his stop. It was as if the very world around us was conspiring against me, and I couldn't shake the feeling of being unwelcome and unwanted.

And yet it didn't want to let me go.

We were walking next to each other and, at some point, I noticed our hands were close together. Suddenly, our fingers intertwined and we found ourselves holding hands. I was surprised, but it felt right, it made sense. It was as if we had subconsciously known all along that we belonged together.

He gave me comfort and happiness, and walking hand in hand made me feel a little bit safer. It was a surreal feeling, but one that I cherished. While enjoying the moment, I also couldn't help but notice the onset of a massive headache.

After all, I had it all wrong. He didn't abandon me, something in his eyes when he told me he couldn't stop trying to figure it out, even awake, told me it was the truth. Something in that deep blue let me know he had felt as empty without me as I felt without him.

And I knew overthinking was always a possibility, maybe I was flying too close to the sun. But in that moment I didn't really care.

The lack of any useful signage made it difficult to navigate our way out, and we found ourselves turning in circles without a clear direction. It was as though it was purposefully trying to keep us trapped within its borders. Every shadow seemed to hold a hidden danger, and my mind was constantly playing tricks on me, coming up with up terrifying images of what could be lurking just out of sight.

Even though I knew that it was probably my overactive brain making me feel scared, I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

But then, out of nowhere, a loud noise shattered the silence, making me jump and sending my heart racing.

For a moment, I was completely disoriented, my mind racing with terrifying possibilities. Was it a gunshot? An explosion? Weren't we supposed to be alone? My imagination came up with all sorts of gruesome scenarios, and I felt a cold sweat break out on my forehead.

I tried to identify the source of the sound, but my senses were in a state of shock. All around me, everything seemed to blur and spin. And Jasper was looking at me, calm, collected, confused.

"Are you okay?" He asked with a soft voice and a little smile, still holding my hand.

"That sound! Didn't you hear it?" I responded, trying as best as I could to remain even half of calm as he was.

I felt like I was losing my mind. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears, and I was struggling to catch my breath. It was as though every nerve in my body was on edge, waiting for the next shoe to drop.

"I didn't hear anything..." He hesitated and walked over to me, put his hand in my forehead, like how you do when someone has a fever.

"I'm fine" I whispered, blushing and looking at the floor. Had I imagined it, then?

He looked around for more than a few seconds, his eyes scanning everything as if looking for something. He was close to me, but I tried not to stare too hard. Still, couldn't help but notice the little stubble that had started to form on his chin. Was it because he had spent all the time he had researching about dreams?

"Let's sit here," he said finally, and pulled me towards a little bench.

It took me a second to realize what it was: a.fucking.bus.stop.

"Oh hell no!" I jumped back, shivering. He looked at me with a confused expression.

"It makes sense, to get out of here we just take the..."

"Easy for you to say it! You didn't have to break a window to escape last time!" I might have been a bit rude, but my fight or flight senses were kicking in right there and then.

"Calm down, it's only to get out of the city. We'll get down in the next stop." What he was saying made sense, I guess, from his point of view. "I won't leave you, won't cross any doors first. It'll be fine."

"What if that's what's keeping me asleep?" I asked, denying all his attempts for keeping me sitting down.

I wasn't sure why I was reacting that way, something felt wrong and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. It scared me.

My mind was racing with thoughts that I couldn't quite piece together. It was a strange and sensation that left me feeling vulnerable. Part of me wanted to open up and share everything that was weighing on me, but the closer he got, the more I hesitated.

I was afraid that if I showed him my true self, flaws and all, he would start to pull away or push me aside.

He tried to talk to me a couple more times, but his words felt drowned within his throat. The silence was palpable and seemed to stretch on forever. I wondered what was going through his mind.

Perhaps he didn't want to argue with me, or maybe he was just too tired to speak. It was also possible that he was angry with me for dragging him into this situation. Despite his attempts to communicate with me, I couldn't help but feel that he was holding something back. For all I knew he felt compelled to help me out of pure kindness and didn't even have any real interest in me.

And I was an idiot that believed that the fact he had given me his jacket and held my hand meant something.

Fuck, I was starting to cry.

"Chiara?" I heard him call out to me, but I turned around. "Hey, it's okay," he reassured me. "We don't have to wait for the bus if you don't want to. We can keep walking."

"Just go." I said, even though my chest begged me to not do it. I felt I was making a scene, acting way more dramatic than I should have. It hurt, still, no matter how silly it must have seemed from an outside point of view.

"Go? Go where?" He chuckled. "Dude, I spent the whole day thinking about you. I forced myself to run up to exhaustion just because of a stupid feeling I would find you here." He was mumbling, probably doubting if he should even be saying all that. "I wrote your name over and over in my notebook, because something inside me couldn't bear not seeing you again."

"You did what?!" I turned around, with the warmth decorating my cheeks red. Cleared my throat and tried again. "What?"

"Call me crazy, I don't care. But this is not a coincidence. I am meant to be here, with you. To help you!" He grabbed my shoulders in a dramatic outburst. His face was so close to mine.

So close.

"Jasper..." I started.

"Not that you... need help... anyways." He stuttered. "But I want to help you. You know, if you let me. Help you wake up and... stuff."

He was special.

Those little moments of perfect impulsivity, followed by his own self-consciousness, were amazing. It was fascinating to watch him navigate between these two states, and I felt so drawn to the way he approached life with both spontaneity and thoughtfulness.

And for some insane reason, I felt like kissing him.

I should have done it.

As I think about what happened, I realize that the environment played a big role in keeping us apart. The nice breeze that was refreshing at first turned into a strong wind that seemed to push us in different directions. The sound of rustling leaves made us feel uneasy and tense. It was as if everything was against us, trying to stop us from getting closer.

And then, the scent of something burning popped our dramatic bubble.

"Do you smell that?" I asked, unsure if I should. For all I knew it was probably a part of my imagination again.

Jasper looked at me with a puzzled expression before taking a deep breath in. His eyes widened as he too caught the scent and relief ran through my body, at least I wasn't crazy. He nodded and gently released his grip on me.

"Smoke. Fire?" He answered, I shivered.

"From where?" I turned around, trying to find the source of it, without having any luck.

"Deja vu" escaped his lips in a soft whisper. He then proceeded to kneel on the ground, in front of the bench.

The smell became worse and worse, we should be running or at least trying to find out where it was coming from. Seeing him almost not react to it made me feel uneasy, even more than before.

I tried to ask him what was going on, but he shushed me, way too focused in whatever he was doing. He traced the lines in the wood with his fingers until his eyebrows came together in an almost comical frown.

"Jasper, the fire..." I started, but he interrupted me with a gesture of his hand.

"Wait a second. Come, look at this." He pointed at something, his tone of voice somber and serious. I followed his lead and knelt down next to him. As he began to rummage around under the bench, I noticed the smell of smoke growing stronger with each passing moment.

It was then that he spoke again, his voice low and nostalgic. "When I was little, I used to carve my initials into anything I could find. Trees, park benches, the walls of buildings...I was always leaving my mark wherever I went." He paused. "We... moved around a lot."

The smell was almost burning through my nostrils.

"Hey, I think I know what-" I started, he started talking again.

"Aha!" He said, proudly. Grabbing what looked like a pocket knife that had been resting right below the bench. He tried to talk to me, but it was my turn to interrupt.

"Jasper, it's the city!" I tried to sound pressing, but I could barely talk. The sight of the whole city in flames in front of me took my breath away. "It's... burning"

The flames were devouring everything in their path, and I could almost hear the sound of wood cracking and glass shattering. I knew we had to get out of there, and fast. He was still crouching there, frozen, with that stupid knife in his hand. I tried to call out to him, to plead with him to come with me, but it was like he couldn't hear me.

"If you die in dreams you die in real life, idiot. Let's go!"

The fire was getting closer, and I knew we didn't have much time left. I tried to grab his arm, to pull him away, but he shook me off and just stayed there. It was like he was in a trance, hypnotized.

"Have you ever had a feeling that you just have to do something?" He whispered, with sparks in his eyes.

He didn't even let me respond, just traced the "JD" he had showed me, carved in the wood by himself in another life. The floor immediately started shaking and the smell of gasoline competed with the smoke. A second afterwards the bus stopped right behind me, making an insane amount of noise.

The fire was almost reaching us by then, tears started accumulating in my eyes. I didn't want to leave him, but I felt I was going to have to. Then, he reacted.

"Let's go!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the... open bus doors?!

I didn't even have time to fully comprehend what was happening.

"Wait. What? How?" My screams were muffled by the sound of the fire. "This doesn't make any sense!"

"It's a dream!" He said, laughing. "It doesn't have to make any sense!"

So I followed him, despite all my senses screaming at me how dangerous it could be. At least it wasn't a city on fire.

After we caught our breath, I took a moment to look around us. I noticed that this bus was different from the one we had been on before. This one was completely empty, except for the scribbles that covered the walls. Jasper was standing next to me, his mouth wide open, fascinated by the graffiti.

Some of the pieces were intricate, with vibrant colors that seemed to jump off the walls. Others were more abstract, with bold lines and shapes that seemed to dance across the walls. Jasper was looking at them with his mouth wide open, like it was the coolest thing he had ever seen in his life.

He felt almost solemn and I couldn't bear to break his focus. After a few minutes he grabbed his notebook from the pocket of the jacket I was still wearing. It tickled. I liked it.

"I think I know where this bus is going." He said, with a smile from ear to ear. He showed my one of the middle pages of the notebook. And the scribbles were suspiciously similar to the ones in the walls. "We found the way back to my dreams."

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