He didn't know where that sweet banana like aroma was coming from but he knew that the moment that scent hit his nose, he was awaken from the scorning nightmare he had just had. All those bad moments he had, all those bad things he heard, all those mean people he met—was it all just one big nightmare?

His eyelashes lifted up slightly and quickly shut when the bright light in the area hit them. He opened them slowly again and rubbed his eyes a bit to adjust them before fully opening them and getting a good view of where he was.

It was a bedroom. A very big one at that. It was nicely laid out in white and blue and gave a calming and relaxing feel. It looked unfamiliar, the place he remembers was no where near this luxury, and the bed he was on, he can't recall ever sleeping on such a soft and comforting bed—Or a bed in general. He couldn't believe it. He took a deep breath and slapped his cheeks a couple of times, the pain letting him know that this was indeed real.

He looked down at himself, he had a large oversized white dress-shirt and a pair of soft pastel blue shorts. He wasn't in those dirty jeans and that disgusting brown hoodie he always wore.

It had to be a dream—his past life—it must've been a huge bad dream of misfortune and sorrow. There's no way any of that could be real, there was no way people could treat others in such a way! There's no—

"Knock, knock, I'm coming in!" A voice was heard behind the white door that was decorated with drawings of cute little dolphins.

Soon after the knock, the door creaked a bit. He was a bit scared—no, just a bit jumpy—he pulled the blue blanket up to his face and scooted his body to the headboard as the door opened even wider.

"Boo!" He was startled when he heard the sound and a guys head popped in through the small creak of the door.

He pushed his body further against the headboard. "Oops." The guy said, voice hinting a bit of guilt. He fully opened the door and walked in with a tray that had bread, a mug and some fruits in a glass bowl. "Did I scare you?" The man asked and let out a small laugh. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to." He apologised and ran his free hand through his light brown hair. He walked around to the right of the bed and set the tray on the table. He then plopped himself on the edge of the bed and gave the boy a smile.

He was feeling oddly shy at the moment, you couldn't see it but he began rubbing his feet under the blanket. He didn't know when he started but whenever he felt afraid or uneasy while sitting, he'd just start rubbing his feet on the floor or together if he was laying or sitting down, it became a habit he used to keep himself calm and at ease.

"Are you hungry? I made some banana bread and not chocolate. I also have some berries and fruits if you'd prefer those." The man said after a while of just looking at him.

The boy turned his head to the tray next to the man and then looked back at him. He shook his head. As much as he wanted to try this 'banana bread' stuff, or that hot chocolate he always saw on TV but never once got the chance to try, he just couldn't. At first, he thought his bad world was where the dream was but now, it seemed more realistic than what was happening now. The man looked like a model straight out of a movie screen, the room he was in seemed like it was copy pasted from the a magazine, and the food just didn't seem real. 'Banana bread'? What? You're gonna tell me there's 'strawberry bread' and 'Orange bread' too? And only rich kids drank Hot chocolate!

It was all too good to be true. He just needed to lay down, sleep and wake up to his shitty life. Or maybe!

He had died and woken up in heaven!

But that was also an unrealistic possibility because he wasn't a good person on earth so why would God except him in his kingdom?

He sighed. A sad and depressing sigh that made the man put a distressed look on his face. "Is everything okay?" The man asked with concern in his eyes. "It's okay. I understand if you're a bit tense right now." The man said with a reassuring smile. He leaned to the table and cut a piece of the large loaf with a butter knife and placed it on a small plate that was also on the tray.

He turned to him with the same smile still visible. "But I'll need you to eat first before I can tell what exactly went down. From what I see, you seem a little confused." He said and handed the plate to him.

He looked at the plate. The bread looked so warm and fluffy and when the man brought in the mug of hot chocolate as well, he just couldn't resist but drool a bit.

Nonetheless, he shook his head and denied the nice man's offer. But right after that, his stomach let out the loudest groan he himself had ever heard. His face went bright red from embarrassment and he looked away from the man, trying to hide it.

The man chuckled. "Come on now, I know you want to eat." He implored. "If you don't, I'll be forced to feed you." He added, as if in a playful threatening way.

The boy looked back at him, his palm on his aching and empty stomach. He looked back at the man's hand, the scent of the hot chocolate was definitely calling to him. He turned his gaze back up to the man who gave him an assuring nod.

He finally reached his hand out and grabbed the piece of bread off the plate with both his small hands, bringing it up to his lips and looking at the man one more time before taking a bite.

He froze, he felt like he wanted to cry. After every bite, he could feel his tears threatening to come out at any second. Why did bread of all things trigger him that much? He had eaten bread before—cheap leftover bread that had been around for over a week—but what's the difference? He continued on eating and by the last bite, he didn't notice how much he had cried. His hands were damped with tears and his nose was a bit runny.

The man chuckled. "Is it that good?" The boy sniffled a little and nodded. The man gave him another smile before handing the cup of hot chocolate to him.

It was still warm, although not a lot of steam was coming like before. He took a sip and went into a completely different dimension. Suddenly, he brought the cup down and his face a showed anguish once more.

"A-are you okay? Do you not like it?" The man asked, leaning forward to get a better look at him.

"When I..." he parted his lips and said in a barely audible tone. "When I wake up. I'll never see this place again will I?" His hands were shaking and his head was brought low.

"When you wake-" the man stopped himself once he caught on to what he was referring to. "Then don't wake up, you can stay here for as long as you'd like." He smiled and placed his hand on the boy's arm, but backed away when he noticed how much the boy began trembling.

"It's okay," He said softly. "I won't hurt you." He reassured with a smile and scooted even closer, pulling the mug out the boys hands and placing it on the table and bringing the boy's head to his chest and slowly running his fingers through his pitch black hair.

His chest was warm and his heart was beating a steady and comforting pace, the feel of his hand running his hair made all his troubles disappear, he felt peaceful and wanted to stay that way.

The man was just lying to him. Everyone has to wake up from their dreams eventually. That's just how life works. His eyes were getting heavy and he tried to fight against it. He didn't want to fall asleep anymore, he knew if he woke up, he'd be back to his mess of a life. Subconsciously, he lifted his arms and wrapped them around the man, but before he knew it. He was gone.

🍧