Only in Your Dreams

He watched her from the corner of his eye as he drove them home. She was smiling, lost in her own world. She was so, so beautiful. Why couldn't he just tell her how much he loved her? He could face and defeat monsters and save the world, but he couldn't tell Rose how much he loved her.

"Thanks for dinner, Mack," Rose said as he pulled into the driveway. "It was very nice of you to treat."

"Huh?"

"Dinner," Rose said slowly. "Thank you for dinner."

"Oh," Mack replied, feeling his face flush pink. "Sure. You're welcome." He expected her to get out of the car as fast as possible due to his strange mood. To his surprise and pleasure, she sighed softly and leaned back against the seat. Without a thought, she threaded her fingers through his.

"I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow." Rose looked over at him. "I feel more at home here than I ever did when I lived with my parents or when I had my place in London."

He nodded. "It's my home too. It's gonna seem so empty without you…I mean, you guys."

"But you're going with your dad on that big expedition. That'll be exciting. It's what you always wanted, isn't it?" She knew him so well.

"Yeah," Mack answered slowly. Truth be told, all thoughts of exploring with his dad had gone out of his head on the first day the others had arrived.

"You'll have to let me know how it goes. Drop in on me sometime. Day or night." Rose flashed him a smile and unwound her fingers from his. "Thanks again, Mack." She kissed his cheek, just like she always did when they said goodnight, and hopped out. "See you in the morning."

He nodded mutely, enchanted by her. 'Idiot' he scolded himself. 'Smooth Hartford, real smooth. Like Rose would ever be interested in you.' Mack noticed that Rose looked back at him, a slightly worried expression on her face.

When Mack finally got upstairs to his room, he went right for the dresser for sweats and a T-shirt. He was still kicking himself for acting so ridiculously in the car with Rose. 'Stupid, stupid,' Mack said to himself.

There was a knock on his door. "Mack? Can I come in? I found something…"

"Sure." The door creaked slightly as Rose opened it. She too, was in her pajamas, pink with red polka dots. There was a paperback novel in her hands.

"I would have bought you a replacement, but I just found this under my bed…" Rose held out a copy of The Baron's Betrayal. "Thanks for letting me borrow it."

"No problem. I gave you all of your books back already, right?"

Rose nodded. "Got em all." She set the book down on the shelf and then threw her arms around him. "I'm going to miss you so much, Mack. I really am."

"I'll miss you too, Rose." He returned the hug, rocking her back and forth slowly. Nothing had ever felt more right.

"I'm being ridiculous. I'm just going to go to bed. Night." Rose pulled away and turned back to the door.

'Now or never,' a little voice nagged at Mack. "Hey Rose?"

She turned to him, hopeful, her eyes wet with tears. "Yes, Mack?"

But he couldn't do it. He just couldn't. "I-Goodnight."

She nodded and left. Mack watched her go in her room and shut the pink door. He sighed and turned off the light.

As he lay awake cursing his lack of courage, a horrible thought struck him. What if he could never tell her how he felt? What if he could never be honest and some other guy fell for her? He'd lose her forever…

Mack fell into an uncomfortable sleep. He dreamed of being at a wedding-Rose's wedding. The groom was a blank faced stranger, tall and unpleasant. "Not my Rose," Mack mumbled in his sleep.

He woke up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room.