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I wake up to the feel of water being sprinkled on my face, opening my eyes in frustration I stare up at the blue orbs that were too close up to my face. I hated it, absolutely hated being woken up with water. My mom did it a lot since I'm a heavy sleeper and I had to tell her how badly I hated being woken up like that for her to stop. I glare up at the culprit who looked very unbothered.

"Hello Barry!" I yawn and stretch my numb legs and rub against my heavy eyelids. I will get him for this, I will avenge this water assault on my sleep.

"Wake up dude," he whispers, his face still centimeters away from my own. Did this man not know of a thing called personal space.

"I don't want to get up," I whine shifting against the car seat as I searched for a better sleeping position. I growl when I feel water on my cheeks.

"I swear I will slaughter you! Stop that! Just stop that!" I kick the dashboard and forcefully close my eyes as I try to regain the good sleep that was now forever lost thanks to a gummy bear.

"But we are here," I shake my head and close my eyes already drifting away as I let the drowsiness consume me, that is until I feel the warmness of his fingers seep into my body as his palm sneaks underneath my thighs.

"You can sleep on me," I was heaved from the car seat and unto his arms. I instantly wrap my arms around his neck not quite trusting this man and all traces of sleep being replaced with worry. I skeptically look at his flexed arms and then the ground. He didn't look so strong but I haven't fallen off yet so I'll cut him some slack.

"Do you want a room alone or with a maid?" His voice resonates from his chest but I don't bother answering, my brain not able to fully function past worry of being dumped on the ground like luggage.

"I like beds," his laugh reverberates through my body. He says something but I don't listen burying myself into his shirt, better to sleep than to worry. My eyes slowly closing as I prepared myself to power off again but with the loudest gasp I quickly jolt out of his arms when I feel his warm fingers trail over my collarbone as he moved my sweaty hair out of my face.

"Hales are you okay?" I look down towards my sneakers too embarrassed to look up at him, I mean what the gummy bear was that? He was just moving my hair out of my face and yet my body's response was to jolt right out of his arms?

"Yeah...yeah, yeah I'm okay," I quickly swipe my hand over my collarbone trying to erase the little tingles that were pricking me.

"I feel naked," I pull the dress over my non existent breasts as I try to hide the 'cleavage' that was spilling from the dress.  He walks away from me probably expecting me to follow, which I do because I don't even know where I am, "I have shirts, I forgot to pack your clothes Im sorry," I frown at how he forget the most essential element of a trip.

"The castle is small but there are a lot of rooms..." He rants on and on about the castle but I cut him off as my eyes land on the castle for the first time. It wasn't small as he said it would be, it was huge! It was beautiful, the majestic stone building looming above us as the grapevines danced around the stone walls. I was speechless at its sight, so medieval and so delicate, surrounded by millions of roses in every color. The nature surrounding its beautiful structure was what left me in awe.

"This is...." I struggle finding the right words to describe its beauty. I look up towards the blue sky and breath into the million scents of roses that I was allergic to.

"Beautiful," I open my eyes once more and look into his blue eyes that matched the sky above him.

"Is it abandoned?"

"Well no one really visits this castle as much except me, its like my get away from the world and my prince duties. It's where I can be free without worrying about what example I set," he wasn't talking to me anymore, his eyes distant as he conversed to the castle that loomed proudly over us.

"Barry," his eyes snap back down at me and the smallest smile makes its way on his face.

"You are so adorable and short and I just want to squeeze your cheeks!" He yelps when my sole meets his foot, no one calls me adorable except my Dad.

"I am not adorable! I am a mature young lady who knows how to properly look after herself. Yes I know I watch the Flash a lot and its childish but-" he leans down and lets his forehead touch mine, moves something from my face and puts it up to my face to see, a small bug. I would have panicked if he casually told me a bug was lingering on my face and I appreciated him removing it casually without making me panic, but I was now panicking because of the close proximity that made me want to get a big whiff of whatever he smelled of that seemed highly luring at that moment. The fact the tip of his nose was rubbing against mine wasn't helping either. I hold in my breath as his calm breathing pats my lips. My eyes move down to his lips, slightly open.

"Move away dude," I whisper not knowing what to say until my slow brain functions minutes laters.

I move away and once again look down at my shoes in embarrassment, tucking away the loose strands of hair behind my ear. That was weird, why would he lean in like that? I bounce on my heels and look up at him, my face full of embarrassment and my cheeks flushed with some unexpected heat but he just stood there with this small smile on his face, looking down at me like I was a little kid.

"Lets go," I shakily take his outstretched hand, still very much embarrassed but he quickly responds by tightly gripping my small palm in his and pulling me towards the large wooden doors of the castle that stood proudly before us.

"Are we alone?" I raise my eyebrows at the black car that was parked further away from the castle.

"No," I nod. He was the Prince of England, of course he needed bodyguards.

"Bodyguards for my lady's protection," so cheesy.

"Welcome to thy Castle that I have no idea what it is called," I laugh as he pushes open the heavy doors revealing the golden room which once again took my breath away. The chandelier hanged low, not looking very promising but nevertheless beautiful as it lit the room with golden light. The walls... my I have never seen walls as tall as these, four pillars with swirling patterns of grapevines and flowers supported the walls, or maybe they were just for decoration I didn't really know anything about architecture anymore. I look over at the marble staircase that swiveled up to the first floor, they were probably the longest stairs I had ever seen. This felt like an actual castle pulled right out of a movie.

"I feel like I am in a movie," I laugh, my laughter bouncing off the mighty walls and echoing back.

"A dance my lady?"

"No! I am tired! Give me a shirt and let me go to bed, we shall dance later Prince Maximus," he sarcastically rolls his eyes and leads the way to wherever a bed was cause I was exhausted.

"Please don't climb the stairs," I look down at my legs that suddenly felt too heavy to go up the swirling stairs that looked too long for my liking.

"Ill carry you."

"No, Ill just sleep on that fancy looking chair," I kick off my sneakers and proceed to walk towards the chair, feeling my eyes droop down with every step.

"You actually wore sneakers and socks," I hear him chuckle behind me but I dismiss him because sleep was better than his comment.I drop down on the chair and instantly feel sleep overcome my tiny self.

"You are too cute," His voice was now a mere whisper, like a voice in a dream that I couldn't reach.

"Let me tell the maid to change you out of those, I wont peek," I hum, not comprehending his jumble of words.

And the last thing I remember was the feel of his fingers in my hair doing that little massage I liked.

-

"Congrats Hales, you are the first human to regain back her leg," I look down at my legs, both my legs! Oh what a sight. It was real! I had both legs!

I watch with the hugest smile as my toes danced around. I slowly move my hand towards my left leg feeling the soft unwaxed skin just to make sure.

It was real!

Even the small things around me were all bringing back a rare warmth in my chest; happiness. The tears prickling my eyes, the radiating happiness around me, the dreams that were all flooding back to me, the sweet flowers beside me,
everything... everything seemed vibrant.

"I can dream," I whisper still looking at a sight that now looked so unreal after years of depending on a prosthesis.

"I can dream," I repeat again still perplexed at how utterly unreal that sentence sounds, how foreign it was on my tongue.

I breath in, close my eyes and smile once more, something I couldn't stop doing today.

"I can dream," I say it much more boldly as I open my eyes and throw my healthy feet over the edge of the bed. I look at the ground that seemed miles away from the bed and my dangling feet.

I jump.

Expecting a land, but got none as I watched my left foot dissolve away leaving me with just my right foot and a bloody thigh.

"Wake up Hales! Its just a dream," a malicious voice booms into my ears. I clamp my ears shut avoiding the truth, I didn't want the truth, I wanted this!

"Its just a dream!"

-

I jolt up, pushing away from the hands that were embracing me. I didn't like its touch...it felt like reality.

"Hales?" my eyes snap to the source of the sound as my sweat dripped from my neck to my now very wet... shirt?

"Stay away from me!" I scramble to safety afraid of its touch, it wanted to take away my dreams! Again! I wasn't going to let it!

"Please I just want to dream," I shield my eyes from it, afraid of what malicious monster was ready to take away a part of me once again.

"Please..." a saltiness I didn't like seeped in from the corner of my lips, tears. Tears were streaming down my face, lots of them, like a storm just reeled in and
my heart was trying to thump right out of my chest. I look down at my legs, a prosthesis not my leg. I had my leg a few minutes ago and now I didn't. I wanted to go back and stay forever in that reality, where I had both my legs, where I could accomplish my forgotten dreams.

"It's just me Hales," I remove my hands from my face as his voice was now much more recognizable drowning me into this reality, this cruel reality that burned my dreams and aspirations to the ground.

"Max?" why couldn't he just let me stay there?

"Yeah it's just me," Without thinking I throw myself into his arms and clutch his shirt as sobs escaped my lips. I breath into his sweet cologne and close my eyes trying to control the sobs. His hands slowly rubs my back and that small gesture was enough for me to fall weak in his touch. I place a hand over my thumping heart as its rate decreased into a much more safer rhythm and breath in.

I was okay.

Everything was okay.

It was just a dream.

Hales is okay.

She is okay.

Everything is okay.

I breath in once more and grip tighter onto Max's shirt.

The nightmares were back.

-

Okay wow this chapter kinda made me sad.
Im growing lazy on this book because Im always occupied with IGCSe's shit, but guys please bare with me, I really love this book and hope on completing it soon.
Im not going to rush it though:)

Stay cool 😎
Smile.
Stay hydrated.
And most importantly...
BE You!

Love
~Shey❤️