The Verse

I drifted off snuggled into Endrew, feeling content and a little sore. A very good, pleasant sore.

We were all awoken to a gong from the door.

Callen jumped up, completely nude and I blushed, hiding my face as he hurried out through the front to the door.

The others got up and began quickly dressing, including Endrew. I hurried as well, looking up at him curiously.

Callen came back, looking pleased. "It is Dannall! We have been offered the sixth district in the pewter sector! Jeshwa was forced to step down and make way for you should you wish it."

Endrew stood tall, a small smirk on his lips. "Call the clan," he said, looking over at Pannar. Pannar took off at a run and everyone else went into a flurry of activity. Endrew looked down at me, his eyes shining. "You have brought me good fortune, Little Ollie," he said happily. "Inadvertent as it may have been. I knew when I saw you you were going to be a positive change in my life."

"What's happening? You get to take Jeshwa's place and wear gray now?"

"Pewter. Perhaps. I will ask the clan. Hurry now. Mallee, prepare her hair, something ornate. Lair, prepare my plating, instruct Little Ollie on how it is done. Ollie, stand and watch while Mallee prepares you."

I tried to watch what Lair did, the ornate plaiting of the mohawk of hair, but Mallee kept jerking and tugging on my hair as she twisted and rolled. Lair finished before Mallee did and Endrew stood quickly as Lair moved to help Mallee with my hair.

"She has so much!" Mallee complained quietly to the small man.

"She does," he breathed, running his fingers through the half of my hair that was still down. "It is so thick and soft! I wish my own crown were so!"

"Stop petting her and help!" Mallee whispered.

Lair chuckled and began tugging on my hair as well. He leaned down close to me. "Callen very much enjoyed what you taught me," he said companionably. "He wishes to do the same for me!"

"It's fun when you both do it at the same time," I said, half joking.

"Oh! Oh, yes, I can see how that would be... very nice. I think we should speak more, you and I!" he said with an almost giggle, nudging me.

"Hmph. Geon also had me perform that... act. I did not find it very appealing at all," Mallee whispered in a hiss.

"I bet he enjoyed it though, yes?" Lair asked, his eyes shining. "Even Layton allowed Leess to his bed last night to allow her to try it!"

"Enough of this talk! You are such a gossip!" Mallee scowled.

"Do not mind her, she is always in a foul mood," Lair said with a smile. "It has been so since Kersol gave her to Endrew as a boon. Not even a pet, just a token. She tried to get Endrew to make her more, but he had no interest. Still, she tried to attach herself to him, become something he would protect."

"Your mouth never ceases it's movement!" Mallee snapped. "You finish her!"

Mallee stormed away, going out front with the others and Lair laughed. "Do not mind her. It is not you she is angry at. Endrew offered her a choice of the others, any of them who wanted her. She picked Layton, but he said no. Geon was the only one who wanted her, but she feared his heavy hand. She offered herself to Pannar who is not so beautiful as Geon, but more even handed. He did not want her either, he wishes a pet who belongs to another just now. Endrew let her go unclaimed for some small time and her hope was she could bring him around. The night you came, he gave her to Geon."

"I remember."

"There now. Try not to move too much, I cannot roll as tightly as Mallee or Leess. Come on!" he said happily, leading me out to the front.

He handed me off to Endrew and went to stand next to Callen, touching his hand lightly before standing to his side and back one step. The large room was filling with dozens of people in black. Most of them men with just a few women.

I moved closer to Endrew, reaching up and taking his hand and he looked down at me curiously as he closed his hand around mine in a small squeeze before letting go. I kept hold and he patted my hand with his free hand as he held my hand to his chest. It seemed symbolic somehow and I heard several whispers as everyone watched us.

I kept my head down, not looking at anyone as he made the announcement of the offer and asked the large group, a good four dozen men and a dozen women, what they wished to do.

There was quiet talk as everyone spoke among each other and I was surprised there was no shouting or heated debates. After a few minutes, Endrew raised a fist and a good two thirds of them raised their fists as well. None of the women, they didn't even look up, like their choice didn't matter or count.

Endrew gave a single nod. "It is decided. Make ready to claim our new position immediately. Gather what you wish and meet me back here before the sun peaks this building."

He turned and looked down at me, his eyes shining with excitement as he bent down enough to slide my fingertips over his lips.

"I wish you a final time here, before we leave," he said softly. He pulled me back to the bed and began pulling my clothes off. "Callen!" he called. "Get my things ready as well, I wish a moment more with my Little Ollie."

I looked up at him and started tugging on his clothes, excited to get back into bed with him.

There was a loud gong and Endrew made a sound of annoyance as Callen hurried away.

He returned with a tall man dressed all in black and I jerked a blanket up to cover my exposed chest as the man walked right up to me with a large handheld scanner.

"You have caused me a lot of trouble, little stowaway!" he hissed angrily.

Endrew pulled me close, half behind him. "Who are you?" Endrew demanded.

"I am no one who concerns you, move. I have to take her back."

"I don't want to go back!" I wailed, taking hold of Endrew's wrist. It hit me then that I did not. I didn't want to go back at all, I wanted to stay right here with Endrew. I had feelings for him!

"The choice isn't yours to make, you are from 112, you cannot stay here! I will return you alive or dead, the choice is yours. You, move. You know the Paraverse laws! She cannot be here!"

"Then can he come with me?" I asked desperately.

Endrew looked down at me in shock as he held me against him, then looked at the man in black.

"There is no law saying they cannot relocate there, but if they do they may never return. Exposure to 112 means no access to the paraverse transit system."

I looked up at Endrew, tears falling freely. I had never been more afraid of anything in my life than I was right now of losing him.

"I will go," Endrew breathed, touching my face gently, wiping a tear away.

"Then I will go as well," Callen said, stepping up.

"Me too!" Lair cried, rushing forward to take hold of Callen's arm.

"We will all go," Layton said with a decisive nod.

Endrew shook his head. "We cannot all go. Pannar. I care for you as a brother, I trust you to stay and lead in my stead. Choose a second wisely. Mallee, you may stay or go as you please, I know you have no care for my Little Ollie."

"I will go! I want to go to a place where women are... more," she said quickly, her eyes bright with hope.

"Does anyone else wish to stay here with Pannar?" Endrew asked.

No one spoke up.

"Then we do this now," the man in black hissed. He hit something on a metal gauntlet on his wrist and a portal opened up. I saw the street where I had stepped through as I peeked through.

A hand on my back shoved me through the portal and I stumbled and fell, smacking my head on the pavement. A flash of light and then blackness as I passed out.

I opened my eyes to a white ceiling, feeling heavy and groggy and sore.

"SHE'S AWAKE!"

The male voice was familiar, but the loud noise made me wince. I couldn't move. Aaron moved into my field of vision, looking down at me. He looked terrified.

"Ollie, jeez, you scared the shit out of me! They didn't know if you would even come out of the coma!"

"Move aside young man," an older doctor said, leaning over me to shine a light in my eyes. I flinched away, my head throbbing.

I tried to speak, but there was a tube in my mouth and throat. I couldn't move at all.

"Very good, she seems aware and she is reacting positively to stimuli. Miss Mallory? Can you look at me please? Very good. Follow my finger with only your eyes. Good. Do you remember what happened?"

I could only blink at him. Of course I remembered, how the hell did I get here and where was Endrew?!?

I whined around the tube.

"Let's get you squared away and I will call the police to tell them you are awake and can answer questions. Young man, I will need you to step back while we get her taken care of, ok?"

I was numb after the nurses all finally left the room, leaving me half sitting in the hospital bed. I still had an IV in my arm, the one that wasn't in a cast. Two policemen were standing in front of me.

They looked bored and put upon as they stood there. "Did you see the vehicle that struck you?" the younger one asked in monotone.

"I... wasn't hit by a car? I was in a parallel universe?"

"Can you tell us why you were standing in the middle of the road?"

"I was coming back through the portal?"

The officer asking questions blinked at me like he thought I was fucking with him.

"I was in a parallel universe! I went there Halloween night and when I came back through the portal, I hit my head!"

"Babe!" Aaron said soothingly, taking hold of my hand. "Babe, you were hit by a car Halloween night. Hit and run. You were found by another driver right after it happened. You've been in a coma the past couple days."

I stared at Aaron in confusion. "Why are you even here? You ASSHOLE! You LEFT me there, no phone, no ID or card or anything! You need to get out! And get out of my house! Get your shit and get out, I deserve better than you and your cheating, asshole ways!"

"Babe! Come on, that's just the meds talking!"

"No! Get out of here! I never want to see you again you piece of complete SHIT! Go find someone else to mooch off of and cheat on! I mean it, get him out of here! He isn't allowed in here!"

The older cop motioned Aaron out as I held my head in my hands. What the hell was happening?!? What about Endrew?!? I could still feel his touch, the heat of his body against mine. My heart ached for him in a physical way!

I broke down crying.

It had all been real! It couldn't have been a dream. Please!

"Ma'am," the younger cop said, still sounding bored and put upon. "Do you remember anything from the night the car struck you?"

"No! No, I left the party because he had abandoned me there. I was walking. I saw a light... the rest must have been a dream. Please, leave me alone now?"

"If you remember anything, give us a call," he sighed, leaving.

I broke down completely when I was alone, curling up and hugging my broken arm, mourning my loss.

The nurse came in and gave me something to help me calm down in my IV. She came in two hours later, giving me a kind smile. "I'm about to go off shift, but night shift is coming on. It's a good crew. If you need anything at all, just hit that button, ok?"

I nodded, but didn't answer as I stayed curled up in the mostly dark room.

An hour later, a tall man in scrubs came in, his mass of long, wild hair caught back in a wild messy man-bun. I could see tattoos peeking out from under his sleeves and up his neck as I watched him in the darkness. He turned and I blinked.

"ENDREW?!?" I wailed. It was him! He had a full head of hair and a lot of ink, but it was him!

"Hey there, easy now," he said soothingly. "I'm Andrew, I'm your night nurse. Don't let my looks fool you, I'm a big softie. You ok? Is your dad here with you?"

"I'm 23! How are you here?"

"Well, a lot of night school and student loans out the wazoo," he laughed. "23 huh? Yeah, I guess I can see it. Petite. Sorry if I startled you when I came in, I can see how I would be a scary thing to wake up to."

"I wasn't asleep... I know you. I dreamed of you? Or I didn't. I don't know anymore. Are you from this paraverse?"

"Wow. They have you on the good stuff!" he laughed. "Never had a girl say she dreamed of me before. Can I take your blood pressure since I have you awake? Your pulse is running at a pretty fast clip..." he said, his fingers on my pulse.

"Because it's you..." I whispered, unable to articulate more. "Endrew. Is Callen here?"

"Callen? Umm, Allan is my roommate's name?"

"Lair is his boyfriend?"

"Larry... yeah, how did you know that?"

"Geon and Mallee?"

"Uhh... I guess you mean John and Mallory? My brother and his wife?"

"Leess?"

"Lisa? My sister? Her husband Payton?"

"Not Layton?"

"No. Guess you could hear me talking on the phone while you were in your coma?"

"No! No, it was all so real! What about Pannar? You left him there, in the other paraverse?"

"No idea. Here, why don't I get you something to calm you down?"

"No, please. No. I just..." I looked up at him. Endrew. My Endrew. Or was it this paraverses version of Endrew? Or maybe it was all just a dream? I wasn't sure, but I did know one thing. Dream, or not, something put me in this moment.

"Hi," I said softly, extending my good hand. "I'm Olivia, Ollie to my friends."

"Lovely to meet you, Little Ollie, I am Andrew. You have quite a stunning smile. How is your arm? On a scale of one to ten..."

"It's fine. It's a little sore, but not bad at all. Are you from here?"

"Born and raised! Lived in the same house on Blackstone Boulevard my whole life!"

"But you were thinking about moving?" I asked.

He hesitated, then gave me a smile. "I guess you did hear everything. Yeah, I found a nice house on Pewter Lake?"

"Can I tell you about my dream?" I asked him, swallowing hard, half afraid of rejection or judgement.

He grinned and pulled up a chair. "Slow night on this floor, sure. I can always say you were telling me about aches and pains, right?"

I told him about my dream, how detailed it was, how vivid it was. Every part of it. Some parts I had to look at the far wall and tell him about with a burning face, but I told him all of it. Right up to the bounty hunter pushing me through the portal and me waking up here.

"That's... kind of amazing. So you think that my phone calls gave you names? Or you think...?"

"It felt real. All of it. I woke up feeling for Endrew what I felt in... the dream? The other paraverse? Whatever it was. My heart ached when I discovered I lost him."

"And I look like him?"

"You are him... but with more hair and tattoos."

"So..." he said with a half smirk. "You are saying that you kinda dig me?"

"I didn't say that! I just... told you everything. Like... full disclosure or whatever."

He stood up, still smirking. "Well. I don't have a girlfriend at the moment. Full disclosure... you are about as far from my type as you can possibly get. Stunning, don't get me wrong, but that's sort of part of it. You are wholesomely beautiful..."

"I wasn't asking to be..."

"Let me finish! To be completely honest, tonight is the first time I actually look-looked at you. Your dad is usually here sleeping in that chair."

"Aaron was not my dad, he is my ex."

"Oh... shit. My bad. Uhhh... how OLD is he?"

"28?"

"Wow. Ok, sorry. He looked... older. And I thought... I mean, you were so small... and the things he was saying to girls on the phone. I assumed you were his kid. Sorry. Anyway, I hadn't looked closely until now. My last girlfriend... I don't say ex because it's sort of a bad connotation. We are still friends. My last girlfriend was tall, leggy. Lots of ink. Bartender. Purple hair, shaved up one side and spiky. Piercings everywhere. You can get the picture I am sure. Girl before her, tall, leggy, lots of ink. Black hair, lots of piercings, tattoo artist. So, I guess you could say I have a type."

"I get it, you don't have to explain, I wasn't..."

"I will sedate you if you don't let me finish," he laughed. "My point I was coming around to is, I always date the same type of girl. Maybe that's why it never works. Maybe I should try a date with a petite, wholesome blonde who knows how to love with all her heart and isn't completely jaded and done with life."

I felt my face turn red again as I picked at the tape on my IV.

"So. I am thinking you will probably be released tomorrow? Barring anything bad showing up on your scans? Means you will be out this weekend and probably free? Maybe dinner and a movie?"

"Maybe... Maybe dinner at your place with Allan and Larry? I like Larry, he is fun. And it's cute how much Allan loves him when he looks so big and scary and Larry is so little and adorable."

"Wow... how could you possibly know that?!? It's not like I described them when I talked to them..." he said in amazement.

"John looks a lot like Larry, they could be brothers, but John is bigger. Lisa is beautiful in a severe sort of way and she is nice even if she has resting bitch face. Mallory is beautiful, but not as nice. Big blue eyes and auburn hair. Peyton has big brown eyes and a dimpled chin."

"Holy shit! Wow. So that's a little scary, not gonna lie... but it's also really cool. Maybe it's some sort of Halloween coma voodoo thing? Ok, Little Ollie. Friday night, my place. Has to be Friday, I work Saturday. Unless you want Thursday night instead?"

I half nodded, not brave enough to say I was hoping for both nights now.

He looked me over, his eyes a little in awe, then nodded slightly. "I need to make my rounds... but I will be back, ok? I want to talk more. I want to know about you. You before you visited another dimension."

"Paraverse."

"Yeah," he smiled, his eyes shining. "That."

He came back after half an hour and we sat up talking between his rounds for the rest of the night. When his shift ended, he came in before he left and took hold of my hand, bending down to kiss the back of it as he stroked with his thumb.

"If they let you out, text me. I will come and get you, don't call an Uber, ok?"

"I don't want to wake you."

"I want to be woken. Besides... maybe I intend to spirit you away back to my place and make you my personal teddy bear while I sleep? Anyway, I will likely be awake before they release you, I sleep in the mornings, wake up in the late afternoon which is when they will likely release you. So call me, ok?"

"Ok. You sure?"

"Positive. Wouldn't have given you my number if I wasn't. I have to admit... I am kind of excited to see you out of that bed and... already stressing over what I am going to make you for dinner on Thursday. Usually I don't stress that sort of thing at all... but I kind of want to live up to the guy you have in your head."

"You don't have to live up to anything, just be you. And take-out is fine with me, I know you can't cook."

"What? How... wow."

"You always have Lisa cook."

"Wow! This is a little freaky and hella cool. Hey... can I be a little weird now?"

"A little weird?" I asked tiredly, smiling. "I guess if I can know you and your family from a dream, you can ask me a weird question."

"Can I kiss you?"

"That's not a weird question at all," I answered breathlessly.

He half smiled and leaned down, touching my face gently before leaning in closer and kissing me gently. It felt just as amazing as it had in my dream.

"Fucking hell," he breathed wide eyed as he pulled back. He started to say more but there was a quick knock and the nurse came in, giving him enough time to stand up straight.

"Good morning Miss Mallory! Oh, hey Andrew! You're still here! Are you pulling a double?"

"No, just finishing a conversation from earlier. I will see you later, Ollie."

He left, smiling brightly as the nurse came in to check me over. I tried to hide my own smile as I curled up to sleep. I napped on and off all day between check-ins and scans.