Despite having so much to take in, I couldn’t resist stealing a peek over my shoulder, both apprehensive of the baffled glances of the Dreamers we wandered past as well as nervous that I was being followed by my suspicious pet.
Darius cast me a concerned sideways glance. “Are you alright?”
“I’m not fully convinced I escaped my cloud; I’m afraid she’s morphed into a disguise that will allow her to follow me to her heart’s content.” If the reactions of the strangers we passed in the streets were bad enough, they were no match for Stardust’s should she learn of my outing with Darius.
He actually chuckled. “It’s sweet how protective she is of you.”
I considered that; no one had ever been protective of me before. “She’s been a good friend.” As had Angel and Iris. All three had caused me to experience what had previously been a foreign concept for me: friendship and belonging. My heart swelled at the thought.
His hand rested over mine for a moment. “I’m glad.”
We turned a corner onto a cobblestone street where the shops became more spread out. Just up ahead lay Darius’s surprise destination, Teacups and Treats, a tiny café tucked inside a porcelain building shaped like a teapot. My eyes widened the moment I stepped inside, where I was greeted by a vision of white lace tablecloths, vases of teapot-shaped flowers in vibrant colors, and teacups which clanked merrily as they floated through the air.
Darius’s grin grew as I gazed around in wide-eyed wonder. “It’s lovely,” I breathed.
“I’m pleased you like it. It’s one of my favorite places in the Dream Realm. I often came here to study when I attended the Academy.”
My brow puckered. “But I thought Nightmares never entered the Dream Realm.”
“They usually don’t, but the Academy—which is located between the realms—is near enough to the Dream Realm’s capital that Nightmares occasionally visiting is not uncommon.”
He gave my arm a gentle tug. As I followed, I took in the other Dreamers filling the café, nearly all of which looked to be coupled…and I was here with Darius. A girlish smile tugged on my lips as we wove through the tables towards a secluded alcove, where he pulled out a chair to help me sit. I settled in the silk-cushioned seat and turned to him the moment he finished ordering for us and sat down across from me.
“Did you enjoy your time at the Academy?”
His nod was enthusiastic. “Learning is one of my greatest passions. There are just so many aspects of magic and not enough years to study them all. I’d have extended my time there if I could.” He proceeded to tell me of his classes in detail—from dream construction, to the history of our worlds, and then to the layers of magic that made up our powers and our world.
As he spoke of his classes and experiences, I felt a twinge of regret, and for a moment I wished I’d disregarded my fears and chosen to attend the Academy after all. But then I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have Darius as my weaving partner now.
He paused when he noticed my frown. “Are you alright? Am I boring you?” He seemed rather nervous at the prospect.
I sighed. “I’m just wondering if I should have attended the Academy.”
“You would have learned a lot, but with your current skill level, you can do much on your own.” Darius leaned closer. “Why did you decide not to attend?”
I nibbled my lip and looked out the window we sat beside, which overlooked a lovely garden of blossoms, a beauty lost on me as my ever-present anxieties returned to knot my stomach. “I was afraid—”
I swallowed my words, unsure whether I was ready to share my vulnerabilities with Darius. But when I lifted my gaze to meet his, which was somber on my behalf, I felt my heart opening beyond my control.
“My background on Earth already makes me an anomaly, so to attend the Academy with others who’ve lived here their entire lives…what if I didn’t fit in?”
The discomfort from the Dreamers’ stares today was undoubtedly nothing to what I’d have felt when I failed to fit in with the other Academy students. I couldn’t bear the thought of not receiving approval from those residing in the one place I was desperate to belong.
Darius rested his hand beside mine on the table, close enough that I could reach out with my pinky and caress it should I want to. “You’re afraid of not fitting in?”
“It’s not a fear so much as my reality.” Even now I was different, choosing to explore the connection I felt with this Nightmare rather than follow the dictates expected of me as a Dreamer. But I simply couldn’t hate Darius, not when he made me feel so alive…and accepted.
“You fit in with me.”
He bridged the short distance between our hands to caress the back of mine with his fingertip before withdrawing his touch with a blush and a nervous glance towards the watching Dreamers, as if only just remembering he had a reputation to uphold. After making a loud comment for the benefit of the eavesdroppers about how he had some things to discuss with me, he then lowered his voice to return to our real conversation.
“I would have enjoyed attending the Academy
