20

WHEN I OPEN MY eyes, I'm no longer sinking in the water. It takes me a moment to get my bearings. I'm not in my room, and the mattress beneath me is softer than my own. An arm is slung over my waist. I turn my head slightly to find Atlas next to me.

This must be his room. For a moment, I lean into his chest, letting him hold me.

I remember falling into the water. I remember how it felt to lose air, to lose consciousness. I thought everything was over.

It was dark and cold.

Yet here, in his bed, I'm warm.

I'm alive.

I'm not frightened that we woke up in his room, but it's strange considering I didn't fall asleep here. Maybe the same magic that brought the butterflies here brought me here, too.

Atlas gasps suddenly, squeezing me to him in his sleep. " Ophelia ."

I touch his arm gently. "I'm right here."

His eyes flutter open; his breathing becomes sharp. He sees me and seems to realize where we are.

He relaxes, his hold loosening. "How… what…"

I roll onto my back. "I don't know. I don't know what happened after I fell into the water. I couldn't see anything. I thought I was drowning."

"You were," he says. "I dove in and grabbed you. I was able to get us to the dinghy that was attached to the boat. But there was a lot of work to do. After that, everything faded and I—we—woke up here."

"You…dove in after me?" I know about his fear of water. After losing Moriah, I know he didn't ever go near water again.

"Of course I did. I don't… I won't let anything hurt you. I've lost you once, and that's something I'll never forgive myself for. I can't lose you again."

A rush of heat flushes my cheeks. Atlas lies on his back again, staring up at the ceiling. "How did you end up in my room, though?"

"I guess I followed you from the dream. Like the butterflies followed you."

He sighs. "My roommate is going to be so confused when we come out together."

I laugh slightly, knowing this will definitely look pretty suspicious.

Suddenly, Atlas's alarm is going off to my right. I grimace at the sound. But in the next moment, all oxygen escapes my body. Atlas rolls over towards me, leaning over me to turn it off. He's propped himself up above me, on his elbow.

I shift under his arm. "I could've turned it off, you know. You didn't have to roll on top of me."

"Well, you are on my side of the bed," he says with a smirk.

I look up at him as he goes to move back down. But our eyes meet and he freezes above me, his face near mine. His eyes gaze down at my lips. He reaches one hand to my temple, brushes his fingers there. They linger, as do his eyes. For a moment, I think he might kiss me.

I find myself hoping for a moment that he will.

But then he's moving away, and the warmth that flooded my face is fading.

"I'll take you home," he says easily.

I should be angry that I'm here, in his bed. I should be upset that he has to drive me home, three hours away.

Yet something has changed between us. He jumped in the water without thinking. He did everything he could to rescue me, despite having everything working against him. Despite the storm and every instinct he had screaming at him, telling not to.

He saved me.

He faced his fear of the water to bring us both back alive.

That's it!

I shoot up. "I figured it out!"

He sits up beside me. "Figured out what?"

"You jumped into the ocean to save me. You didn't hesitate or think about your fear of water. You dove in and you pulled me back up to the surface. And then we woke up. You faced your fear."

He stares at me for a moment, considering. "So Rook is putting us in trials where we have to face our worst fears?"

I nod emphatically.

"So now, when we fall asleep tonight, we'll be teleported again?"

"Maybe… I don't know if it will happen again. I mean… we're back here. We passed that test. Would he really send us back to another dream?"

I glance over at the alarm clock on his bedside table. I'm beyond late for work.

"Crap," I mutter.

I search for my phone, which I find in my pocket. I'm still dressed in yesterday's clothes. Somehow in all the chaos, my phone is untouched. Maybe the dream didn't really have an effect on anything in the waking world.

Just on our spirits, our souls.

I see about a dozen texts and three missed calls from Priya. I call her immediately.

"There you are, my friend. Are you okay?"

"I overslept. I had a rough night. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry. We aren't busy. I can handle it today. You take the day to relax."

"No," I shake my head, though she can't see me. But then I realize I'm three hours away. By the time I'm back home, my shift will have about thirty minutes left. There's really no point.

"I'm serious, Ophelia. You work very hard. Take today to rest."

"Okay." I feel absolutely awful for doing this to her. "Thank you, Priya. I owe you one."

"You owe me nothing, sweet girl." She pauses. "Maybe a coffee, though." She laughs slightly.

"A thousand coffees. I'd better go. Thanks again."

I hang up, turning back to Atlas. "Priya gave me the day off, so if you have work today, you can just take me home after. I don't want to interfere any more than I have."

"No. I was off work today. I have all the time in the world for you." He bites his lip, a quirk he has when he's thinking.

His words make me shiver. I quickly sit up and swing my feet to the floor, then stand up.

"Well," Atlas says, stretching his arms above him. "I'm hungry. Why don't I take you out to eat and then we'll get you home."

I smile. "Okay. I will let you take me to breakfast."

He gets out of bed. "Just let me get changed so my roommate doesn't ask more questions than necessary."

"And if he does ask questions?"

"He knows about you. So I'll tell him as much as I can. You needed a place to crash or something."

He told his roommate about me?

Before I have time to question that, he's disappeared down the hall with a fresh set of clothes. I sit on the bed, waiting.

When Atlas returns, he says, "We're in luck. Carter isn't here. So let's go get food and then get you home. I'm sure your dad is wondering where you are."

"He hasn't even noticed I'm gone," I say with a shrug. "Today isn't one of his off days, so right now, he's still asleep after his night shift. I usually see him on his day off, and then in passing when he gets home. He's usually about to go to bed when I'm getting up. He probably thinks I'm at work when he gets home and I'm not there."

He won't notice I'm gone, and for once, that works in my favor.

Atlas's expression is unreadable. I know how he feels about my dad never being home. He always made it clear when we were younger that he didn't like me being home by myself.

Times might be different, but some things never change.

I follow Atlas through the apartment to the door. He grabs his keys and his coat, which he puts over my shoulders.

I shiver when I step outside, though it's hardly the chill in the air.

It's the fact that I no longer hate Atlas Jameson. And every old emotion is stirring up inside of me. Unwanted and unnecessary.

Yet I don't want it to stop.