Free An Autumn Dream by Melissa Giorgio

you brought dessert with you.”
    “Gabi,” he said in a scolding tone of voice. “Please. I know you. You would slam the door in my face if I arrived empty-handed.”
    “Absolutely.” I meant to giggle, but it came out as a sigh. Which Rafe heard, of course.
    The teasing tone left his voice as he asked, “What’s the matter?”
    “It’s stupid.” I leaned my head against the brick wall, closing my eyes. “I had a dumb dream about Mom last night and my whole day has been screwed up because of it. School sucked, I had no one to talk to, and…”
    “Where are you?” I could hear the concern in Rafe’s voice. He knew all about Mom, and how I got whenever she was a part of the conversation. He completely understood the aching hole in my heart because he had a matching one in his, having lost both of his parents to a demon.
    I squinted through the rapidly fading sunshine to asses my location. “Oh, I’m right around the corner. I stopped to…think.”
    Rafe didn’t respond, but I could easily picture the frown on his face. He probably thought I had lost my mind, and for a good reason, too. What was I doing, sitting on the ground staring at Christmas decorations? At least I hadn’t started crying. That would have been bad.
    “What are you thinking about?” he finally asked.
    “Just things.” I heard someone walking through the fallen leaves, making the swishing, crackling noise I always associated with autumn. I looked up to see Rafe rounding the corner, phone to his ear. “Oh, I gotta go. My stalker is here.” I hung up my phone, and Rafe did the same with his before handing me a white paper bag. Peering inside, I saw two large chocolate chip cookies nestled amongst wax paper and smiled. “My stalker has good taste in dessert.”
    Rafe sat down next to me, and I scooted over so I could rest my head against his shoulder. He was wearing a fleece jacket, which was very unusual for Mister Furnace, and the soft fabric felt nice against my cheek. That mixed with the familiar smell of his favorite cologne made me close my eyes and breathe deeply. For the first time all day, I felt at ease.
    “Missed you,” I mumbled against his shoulder. “I’m sorry those people aren’t getting their new home, but I’m glad you’re here.”
    Rafe laughed quietly, and I felt the vibrations through my cheek. “I wasn’t building a house! Just passing out some flyers for a food drive next week, but they had the wrong date on the flyer, so they told me to forget about it.”
    “I knew you were curing world hunger!”
    “Just trying to help out.” He took my hand in his, entwining our fingers together. We had been dating for almost two months now, and I still marveled at how natural it felt to hold his hand. The way our fingers fit together so perfectly, it was like we had been doing it all our lives.
    “Isn’t saving the world from demons enough for you?” I tilted my head back so I could see his face.
    “You’re probably going to find this hard to believe, but sometimes I do enjoy doing something that doesn’t involve chopping someone’s head off.”
    “You’re right.” I shook my head. “I can’t believe that.”
    “Gabi!”
    I pushed him with my shoulder. “I see you when you’re fighting. You love it!”
    “I love making the world safer,” Rafe corrected me. “I love giving someone else the chance I never had. The chance to…” He broke off and looked away, swallowing hard.
    “The chance to grow up with their loved ones still around,” I finished for him.
    “Exactly.” Our eyes met, and I saw sympathy in his. “Want to tell me about your dream?”
    That required sugar. I reached into the bag to remove a cookie before passing the bag over to him. After taking a large bite and swallowing, I said, “It’s so dumb. I have a dream, she’s in it, and when I wake up, the only thing I can remember is that I dreamt about her. And just the thought of her there, running around in my head, is enough