Chapter Text
Dan's eyes flew opened
For a moment, his heartbeat quickened, as the last few memories of his dream faded away. Try as he might, he couldn't remember what he dreamt about, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. A weird chill ran down his back that had nothing to do with the warm breeze that blew gently through the open window.
Staring at the ceiling for a moment to steady himself, Dan took a deep breath- but it caught in his throat. It's just a dream, he reminded himself. It's just a dream.
But something told him it was more than that, as much as he told himself it was stupid, the dreams, which were getting more and more frequent, felt strangely and unsteadily real.
His parent's voices, which carried from downstairs, told him that the rest of family were already awake, as Dan sat there, rubbing the last of sleep from his tired eyes. Even though he had gone to bed relatively early last night, he was far from rested. But since he was already awoken, it was useless for him to try to go back to bed again.
Stumbling downstairs in only his boxers, Dan was only half aware of his surroundings. He still felt only half here. The rest of him was elsewhere, still somewhere deep in dreamland. He had a strangle feeling that he had felt many times before, of not being in the right place, of not really belonging.
Shaking it off, Dan tried to focus on his parent's conversation, about where they were going to go for summer vacation. Usually he was excited for an escape, but his mind still wandered.
He poured himself a bowl of cereal and milk, most of the milk not even making it in the bowl.
"Good morning Danny-Bear!" The familiar chirpy voice of his Grandma greeted him.
Dan suddenly felt self-conscious, and realized that he probably should have put on a shirt before going to breakfast. Still, he was glad to see his Grandma- though her visits were frequent and often without warning, they were still much looked forward to.
"Morning Grandma." Dan replied, running his hand through his hair, and staring down into his bowl.
His grandma bent down to look Dan in the eyes. She looked like she was going to say more, but at the sight of Dan's expression, she stopped herself, instead resting a hand on his shoulder.
His family continued on with their conversation, debating between India and Kenya, and also their voices grew louder, Dan tuned them out slightly. He had yet to take a single bit of breakfast, and his cereal was quickly getting soggy. But he suddenly wasn't hungry.
He glanced around the dining table, where his younger sister was dropping most of her eggs on the carpet. The family dog, Maggie, was happily licking even bit of the food off the carpet, which Dan was sure his parents regretted as soon as they had kids. Messy eaters and white carpet doesn't go together.
Dan hoped that eggs weren't poisonous to dogs, because the last thing he needed was a rushed trip to the vet's office.
As quickly as he could, Dan drowned the rest of his cereal, and excused himself to his room. His family barely looked up from their conversation.
Laying on his bed, Dan was so engulfed in his thoughts that he didn't notice his Grandma sitting beside his until she cleared her throat gently. He sat up, biting his upper lip and thinking.
"Dan's what's wrong?" She finally asked.
"Nothing." Dan said, but he knew lying to his grandmother was no use. She knew him better than anyone, and was the wisest person he knew. There was no getting past her. His dog had followed his grandma upstairs, and now rested her head in Dan's lap, as it she it too.
"It's just that, I started having the dreams again." He admitted, reached down to pet his dog gently. His grandma was the only person he had told about the strange dreams he was having.
She didn't look surprised, or even concerned. She just sighed sadly, and placed a hand on Dan's knee. "It's going to be okay." That wasn't exactly any help at all.
He continued. "And, it's not just that, it's like they're becoming more real, I know, it's crazy, but it's just that-" He let his voice slowly trail off.
Dan look up at his grandma, who didn't seem to be even listening to him, instead she was looking off into the distance.
"Grandma?" He said cautiously.
"Maybe it's time. I knew it would be sooner or later. But you're just still so young."
"What?" Dan could barely even make out what his grandma was saying, she was more muttering to herself than to Dan now.
"Daniel, just know that you always belong here. No matter what anyone tells you. You belong, Dan, you belong." This sudden prep talk had seemed to come out of nowhere, and it had nothing to do with any of what Dan had been talking about.
"What?" Dan asked again, absolutely bewildered.
She didn't answer him. Dan loved his Grandma like crazy, but sometimes, like times this, he wondered if she was just a little tiny bit out of her mind. Once, when he was much younger, he had asked his mother this. She had stared at Dan, and then, in a tiny whisper, responded, "All the best ones are." Dan didn't understand, the best ones of what?
But Dan knew enough that even if right now, what his Grandma said sounded like nonsense, one day it would make sense. His grandma just knew things like this.