"Mommy, daddy promised me ice cream" Chris pouted at me

"Ok, but only a little bit. It's late. You know you get nightmares if you eat too many sweets at night" I smiled at him, placing a kiss on his cheek as we walked towards the ice cream truck.

"But I have you and daddy to chase away all the bad dream monsters" He hugged me tightly, the noise of our pendants clicking against each other echoing throughout

"Mommy, do you love me?" He stares at me with hollow eyes, sending a shiver down my spine.

"Of course, baby"

"Then why aren't you with me?" he sniffled as black tears dripped through his eyes. A bruise on his forehead peeking through his hair. "I want to be with you, mommy!" He cried out as he vanished from my arms.

No, no! Chris! Come back!

I tried to scream but nothing came out. I wanted my baby. I wanted my child.

"Why did you leave me, mama?!" He cried out again.

I ran towards the voice, trying to chase him down. My bare feet slowly starting to bleed as blisters formed.

"I need you, mommy!" He cried out again. I ran faster, dripping in sweat, tripping over something tangling in my feet. I grab it to hold it up. It was the pendant, broken into pieces.

"Chris, baby! Please come back! I miss you!" I cried out to him, my voice finally taking my side.

"Save me, mommy!" He sounded like he was in pain.

"Magic necklace, I want my mommy and daddy! Magic necklace, I want my mommy!" The ice cream truck's music slowly increased, drowning out his cries. My breath gets caught in my lungs as I tried to focus on his voice, desperately trying to find a way to reach him.

I jolted awake, breathing heavy I took multiple deep breaths, looking around the room, trying to come to terms that it was indeed just a bad dream. The realistic feeling of it haunted me.

I checked the time on my phone, it was only three in the morning. The sun had not even come out yet. As I fell back on my bed, curling up into a ball, feeling restless. I grab a pillow from behind me, hugging it, hoping it would serve as some sort of replacement for Chris.

--

The students mingled in the hallway, excited to know that school would soon be ending. The sun was shining bright outside, yet my mood was the complete opposite that resembled more of a grey. A nasty feeling kept tugging at me at the bottom of my stomach as I leaned against my locker. The bags in my eyes were deeper than Mariana's trench, having had no sleep last night. A constant repeat of the nightmare made me wonder if Chris really was ok.

I felt an arm snake around my waist from behind me, pulling me into their chest, kissing my cheek "Don't tell my girlfriend, but you're probably the second most beautiful person in this school" He kissed my neck.

And then there was Blake. Both of us were trying so hard to come to terms with Chris being gone. He tried so hard to make sure no negative thoughts regarding Chris would cross my mind. For both my sake and his. But today was going to be hard.

"second?" I lean back against him.

"Yeah, my girlfriend's the first" He spun me around to face him, planting a soft kiss on me. "Good morning" He smiled at me, which quickly turned into a frown as he saw my state. "I see you had a good night's sleep last night" He lightly traced his thumb over my eyebags.

"I don't want to ruin such a good morning, but I couldn't sleep at all last night. I just have this really bad feeling that Chris is in trouble" I felt my heart rate increase as my breathing became heavier.

"Hey, Jackie." He softly cups my face in his hands, taking deep breaths, forcing me to do the same. "Chris is fine. He's with his parents. They're taking good care of him" He tries to comfort me, yet I don't think he even believed himself.

"Blake, no. I had a really bad dream last night. And I can't shake off this feeling. Can you please give me Officer Clay's number? I need to make sure he's ok" The gut feeling worsened as the minutes went by.

"Ok, ok. I'll call him right now" He didn't waste any time calling Officer Clay on his personal number, asking him to check up on Chris. After a bit of persuasion of how it was necessary, Blake thanked him and ended the call.

"He'll look into it" He comforted me, making me relax. Blake took my head in his hands, holding it firmly against his chest as he brushed his fingers through my hair. A feeling I had come to love over the past few weeks.

"After school, we're going to go out. Get some good food, explore some old part of town, that should ease up our minds a bit" He let go of me, leaning down to me and kissing my forehead.

"We get it! You're dating!" Two voices yelled at us, as the owners quickly disappeared. It didn't take a genius to know it was Lottie and Caden.

"Did you know we're dating?" Blake raises his brow at me, trying to lighten the mood. I shook my head at him, playing along. He spun me around, so my back was against his chest. He lightly kissed my cheek, slowly trailing down my jaw and my neck, sending shivers down my spine "Now do you know?" He breathed against my neck, making my stomach turn.

"Blake!" I quickly get away from his grasp. He really knew how to turn me on, but he never knew the right time.

"Come on, Jaqueline. Let's have a Chris" He stepped closer to me and my arms shot up in fists, ready to fight him as a smirk played on my lips. He took another step closer to me, enjoying my uplifted mood. "Show me what you got" He too puts his fists up, punching the air near my face, making out sounds from his mouth along the lines of Pah pah pah.

I lift my leg to sidekick, but he catches it in time before it makes contact with him. "Oh, ok. Jackie West?? More like Jackie Chan!!" He hypes me up, making me laugh out loud. As I struggle to get my leg out of his grasp, I kick him with my other leg. But once again, he dodges. Making a run for it to his class this time as he smiled back at me.

Once he was out of view, I too make way to my class. Dante stood in front of the class. I hadn't talked to him since that day. His eyes met mine as quickly as they looked away, avoiding looking at me as he simultaneously tried to hide the purple bruise that seemed to form on his left cheek.

"Ah, I forgot!" I heard Blake's voice again as he ran down the hallway towards me. He held my face firmly in his hands, placing a firm kiss on my lips, as I felt everyone's eyes in the hallway, watching us. The ooh's and aw's heard across the hallway. But that didn't stop me from kissing him back. I felt him smile against my lips. Once he let go, his eyes met Dante. His face turning into a scowl as he clenched his fists. He leaned down to whisper "Next time, I'd rather hear stuff from you, not Auntie" I looked back at Dante, wondering if Blake was the one that did that to him. "I love you" He kissed me again before running back to his class as the bell rang.

--

It was evening now; the sun was almost set. The cool breeze was refreshing as we walked hand-in-hand through the old part of Rootsville.

"I finally finished my game," Blake tells me.

"Really? Can I play it sometime?" I grabbed his bicep with my other hand, walking closer to him.

"I don't think you'd like it. It has violence and blood"

"You're right. But I still want to play it. You made it" Sure, games like those weren't exactly my cup of tea, but Blake seemed to enjoy them and get a kick out of them. Hence why he made one. I was willing to try his likes and dislikes.

He smiled at me. "I mean someone has to play it for it to get famous. After all, you're going to pay my bills with the money you earn" I grinned at him.

"Is that in the husband's description? Does the wife pay the husband's bills?" He pondered amusingly while I smiled at how comfortable he was, imagining us married.

"Nope, my money is money. And your money is my money" I stuck my tongue out at him. "But I guess if I'm really feeling it. I'll let you borrow a few bucks."

He laughed at my response "I'll make sure to be so successful that I'll never have to ask you for money. I'll make sure you get spoiled with both my money and your money" He took his arm from my grip, wrapping it around my neck and bringing me closer. Closing all the space between us while we walked as he placed a kiss on my head.

"And our kids" I chime in.

"We already have Chris, I'm thinking he needs a baby sister" He smirks at me, walking towards me as if we were about to make one right now.

"Blake!" I pushed him away as he laughed at my red face.

The sun had settled down now and it was completely dark. The streetlights and lights from the restaurants and stores shining the way for us.

"Watch, we'll be on a famous talk show someday. Mrs. Jackie Archer a supermodel and Mr. Blake Archer, a pro game developer. The youngest, hottest CEO of our generation. Forbes richest" He opened his hand in front of me, trying to make me picture it as I let out a laugh.

"Magic necklace, I want my mommy and daddy" A soft sniffle made me freeze in my tracks. Did I imagine that? Was I hearing things from my dream? I looked over at Blake and saw him frozen too. No, I didn't imagine it.

"You heard that right?" I slowly turned towards Blake as the nasty feeling from earlier this morning resurfaced. My stomach churned as the feeling of nausea overtook me.

"Magic necklace, I wish to be with mommy and daddy. I want mama" they sounded like cries. It sounded like he was yelling. But the voice came out soft like he was at a distance. My nightmare replayed through my head as my feet took off on their own, searching for him, yelling his name. Blake's actions mirroring mine.

Chris, I'm coming!