Something's gone terribly wrong, you're all I wanted
Come on, come on don't leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out
Can't turn back now, I'm haunted

I was going crazy. I had to be.

I mean, it was the only logical explanation. The nightmares, the panic-inducing images seemingly seared into my brain--it wasn’t normal. I winced as I pressed a hand stubbornly to the back of my still-throbbing head, wondering if my last fall had caused even more damage to my already fragile mind.

I thought for a second about going back to the hospital. Though I despised being in hospitals (you know, being surrounded by death and all) I knew it was probably the first wise idea I’d come up with in a while. The doctors were bound to take one look at my disheveled and tear-stained appearance and realize something wasn’t right with me, or at least I hoped they would. They’d probably admit me right away and do a brain scan or something so they could clear all the crazies away. Then, I could truly move on from this nightmare of a life. I’d probably move back to San Diego, maybe stay with my parents for a while before eventually finding myself a dull inconspicuous job and try to forget those few years where my life had been closer to a fairy tale than I’d ever imagined.

...but then again, what if I wasn’t just seeing things? What if it was my subconscious trying to tell me--no, scream to me that something was terribly wrong?

I was pondering this as I shuffled down the busy downtown street I’d found myself on after mindlessly walking the LA streets. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was--I’d made a plethora of turns in hopes of getting as far away from Jack as I possibly could, and I was now regretting it. I couldn’t get my bearings, the blur of cars and tourist-trap stores melding into one as I began to quicken my pace down the damp sidewalk nervously.

I didn’t recognize anything, each store front I passed looking the same; seedy and undesirable, and I was seriously starting to freak out, realizing that maybe running off for a second time that day was not the smartest idea.

But then, just as I was about to give up and turn back around, that’s when I saw it; the familiar green and white signage glowing in the night in a heavenly sight, the bold white letters of Starbucks feeling more welcoming than ever. Never had I been more grateful to see the coffee giant, as I was usually the first to grumble about it being on every other corner. But now, now I breathed a grateful sigh of relief as I entered the semi-busy establishment. I sniffed the air, shutting my eyes for a moment as I relished in the smell of fresh coffee grounds.

I smiled to myself, the uncertainty I’d had over where I’d end up falling to the background. For at least a few minutes, I could relax. I could forget how upside down everything had become. Just focus on the moment. Focus how nice it felt to be in the warm building after walking in the cold night air for so long.

A rush of air broke my calming thoughts as I felt someone push past me. My eyes shot open from the rude interruption and I immediately stumbled back in pure shock over the new scene in front of me. I was still in Starbucks, sure, but that was really the only thing that stayed the same in the seconds since I’d closed my eyes.

For starters, it was no longer night. Far from it. The morning light could be seen shining through the large windows as it illuminated everyone in a slightly yellow-orange glow. I gulped, staring at the man next to me as I expected him to come to the sudden realization that I had that in a flash it’d literally switched from night to day, but he didn’t even flinch. I continued observing my new environment, frowning as I realized that something seemed oddly familiar to me. It wasn’t just being in a Starbucks, either. It was the particular group of people, too. From the brown-haired girl manning the front counter, to the little boy running around in the corner while his exasperated mother looked at everyone else in silent apology. I could have sworn I’d seen them all before. It was as my eyes were carefully observing each person in hopes of putting the pieces together when I froze, my gaze halting at one particular girl putting in her order at the front of the congested line.

It was me.

“No way.” I breathed, watching in amazement as I watched my younger self place her--or my?--coffee order, wondering how the hell I’d ended up in such a vivid out-of-body experience.

I was so focused on my other self, contemplating on whether or not it’d severely imbalance the universe to try to talk to her (the nerd in me said of course it would), when another cheery voice stopped me.

"Hey, Sally!"

Both myself and my doppelgänger whipped around to find Jack, smiling his trademark friendly grin and in an instant, I recognized the scene I’d been placed in. It was hard not to, really, now that I thought about it. From the Starbucks location to Carley the barista in the background, it was undeniable where I was.

It was when we’d first met.

"Jack?" Younger me’s mouth dropped open as she took in Jack’s presence. "You guys are still here?"

He nodded, while I timidly took a step closer to him and waved my hand wildly in front of him and younger me--let’s call her ‘Sally’. Not a blink, not a flinch, nothing. I scowled, not enjoying being an outside observer of my own romance for a second all while Jack happily explained, "We're just getting our java fix before we hit the road."

I pursed my lips, watching out of the corner of my eye as ‘Sally’ rocked on the tips of her heels over Jack, peering at Rian before waving at him in a friendly gesture. "What a surprise to bump into you guys.” I could hear her stumble out. I winced. Was I really that awkward? God, I hoped not. "Great show last night by the way."

"I'm really glad you enjoyed it, Sally."

She chuckled. "It's Christina, actually."

Jack’s bottom lip stuck out in a childish pout. "But I like calling you Sally..."

This struck me, after everything. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed him calling me Sally until it was gone. I mean, he called me Sally as a last ditch effort to get me to stay, but--

I frowned as his desperate words came flying back to me again. Sally, please don’t leave me. That’s what he’d said. Not a simple ‘please don’t leave’ or even a blunt ‘stay!’. No. He’d said ‘Sally, please don’t leave me’. Why, after admitting his engagement to Jo, would he choose, out of all things, to use his special nickname for me? The one that he knew meant so much to me?

I could say it was because he was a sadistic son of a bitch, but I knew that was a lie. Jack could be a lot of things, but sadistic was not one of them. Stupid, maybe. Stubborn, hell yes. But never cruel.

And the more I thought about it, other than that one outburst, he’d refrained from acknowledging me by name at all. No Chris, no Christina, just one tinyuse of Sally.

He’d been so defensive with me one second, and then the next, he was so desperate and, dare I say it, scared.

What could he be so scared about?

As I pondered this, the scene continued to play out in front of me, with Sally shaking her head at Jack softly. I smirked, remembering how I already knew, deep down, that his nickname for me meant more than I was willing to admit. "Well if you like calling me Sally that much, I guess I could let you..."

"Yay!" Jack cheered, pummeling my younger self’s much smaller figure into a tight, bone crushing hug. I chuckled to myself, now well familiar with Jack’s...uh...enthusiastic embraces.
Jack released younger me a few seconds later before asking, "You're still going to watch Home Alone, right?"

I smirked, mouthing along with ‘Sally’ as I’d thought about this moment so often I practically remembered every word. "If you recommend it so highly, you betcha."

His lips broke into another wide, adorable smile that made my heart ache. "Awesome." He paused for a beat. "Actually, do you have twitter? You can tell me what you think."

"Sorry, I don't."

Jack’s shoulders fell as his cheery voice dropped, disappointed in my apparent lack of social media accounts. "Oh." But then, of course, he wouldn’t let this get him down. He darted away from ‘Sally’ as I now knew he sweet talked the barista to let him leave a note for me.

That sneaky devil.

Younger me eyed him carefully, arms folded as she asked upon his return, "What'd you do?"

Of course, he didn’t answer. Instead he turned to Rian, who I honestly had forgotten had been there as I’d kept my attention so focused on me and Jack. I jerked back, Rian almost giving me a heart attack as he reappeared seemingly out of the blue. "Hey man, ready to go?" Jack asked his bandmate.

Rian gave a nod. "We should go. Everyone's waiting on us."

“Well it was nice meeting you again.” Younger me forced a smile, though I knew how disappointed I’d been to watch Jack leave. At that point in time, I thought that would literally be the last time I’d ever have a one-on-one with Jack. If only I knew...“I’ll try to catch you the next time you’re in town.”

“Oh, you’ll do a lot more than that.” I muttered knowingly to myself, while Jack threw one last arm around ‘Sally’ for a quick hug.

“You better, Sally.”

Then, they were out the door. I tried to follow them out into the sunny streets of...well I wasn’t sure where I was anymore, but let out a painful yelp when my body slammed against what seemed to be an invisible barrier against the exterior of the building.

So...I was stuck.

Great.

I sighed, standing next to the exit for a while as I longingly looked out the window. It looked so sunny and inviting out there, and honestly seeing the first big moment with Jack and I, when he’d given me his number and everything; well I wasn’t sure how many times I could see it. Once was heartwarming, sure. But considering there seemed to be a invisible barrier and everything, I had no clue how long it would take for me to break free of...whatever it was.

“I’ve got an iced mocha latte, two decaf coffees, an earl grey tea, and a double shot espresso for Christina?”

My eyebrows perked up at my name, silently watching from afar as ‘Sally’ went on to pick up the order only to place it down on a table a moment later to discover the thin-ply napkin that would forever change my life.

She stared at the napkin in wonder, brushing the last line, ‘For Sally’, delicately with her fingertips in disbelief before numbly folding the brown napkin safely into her front jean pocket. Then, suddenly remembering she had work to get to, she grabbed both of the drink holders, delicately balancing the teas and coffees with expert form before speedily exiting the Starbucks as well.

As soon as she was out the door, I expected the scene to reset or move on, or something as I fully accepted I’d somehow ended up in one hell of a dream. Who knows, maybe I fainted again? After all, I’d been out in the streets of LA for God knows how long only hours after I’d fainted and hit my head.

Again, not my smartest moment.

However, I was shocked when, a soon as my counterpart was out the door, everyone else disappeared as well, vanishing like ghosts. I was suddenly alone, feeling totally unease as I stood awkwardly in the center of the once-bustling establishment. “Uh...what?” I frowned, turning slowly and cautiously in hopes I wasn’t totally alone, but to no avail.

“Sally!”

I jumped, spinning back around as my eyes widened at Jack in shock. He had his head peeking thru the front door, and his warm brown eyes were no longer ignoring me as they’d done before. No, now he was staring right at me.

“You can see me?” I asked, jaw slacked as I rushed to stand in front of him.

“Sally, I know you’re strong.” He replied, his voice dead serious and again, I had an inkling he couldn’t actually hear me despite looking me dead in the eye. I was uneasy, to say the least. “And I know it’s gonna be tough, but I need you. I can’t take this anymore, okay? I need you to be okay.”

Again, there was that desperation in his voice, and suddenly those haunting flashes that had been tormenting me came to the forefront of my mind once more. “Jack, you’re scaring me.” I whispered, staring back at him with unsure eyes. The fear in the pit of my stomach came flying back. Something was seriously wrong, and it wasn’t because Jack was with Jo. No, this was something far, far worse.

“I can’t do this without you, okay? I’m pathetic without you. I need you around to keep me in check, just ask the guys...” Jack’s voice continued it’s plea before his voice broke in a pitiful half-laugh, half-sob. “Please...”

My heart broke at his words, feeling torn as I was having trouble differentiating the Jack in front of me and the one I’d furiously slapped. One of them had to be a delusion, right?

The question was, who?

I thought about this carefully. Douche Jack had been distant, hardly acknowledged my existence and oh yeah, shoved his new relationship in my face after I ‘dared’ be bitter. But this Jack...this Jack was begging--pleading for me to come back to him.

...was this who I’d truly heard before? I gulped, realizing that when I’d heard the desperate plea of ‘Sally, please don’t leave’, my back had been turned to Jack. At the time, I’d naturally assumed it was this Jack’s half-assed attempt at making me stay, but now...now I wasn’t so sure.

Was this voice the real Jack? Was that why everything had gone to shit? Was it just one big giant nightmare?

Like an answer to my prayers, Jack’s voice seemed to answer my question as he plead, “Sally, please. Please, wake up!”

I sucked in a gasp, realized that unlike the Jack I’d just vividly watched woo my younger self all over again, unlike the Jack who’d been so quick to fall in love with another woman, I wasn’t daydreaming the words echoing in my mind now. I was really hearing them.

As soon as I realized this, the floodgates seemed to open as my vision grew blazingly bright, breaking apart the wood floors and moss-tinted walls with thunderous power. I could do nothing but let out a yelp as my world shook around me before disappearing all together in the white light, growing brighter, brighter, until I heard Jack’s familiar voice mutter tiredly in confusion, “Sally?”

My vision dimmed, revealing a small, but overall silent hospital room. I could barely see, my lids stubbornly refusing to lift open more than a few millimeters or so. Despite this, I instantly recognized the surprised figure staring at me from my bedside. “Holy shit! Holy--” He stopped himself as he fidgeted in his chair, looking as if he was fighting the urge to hug me right there.

“Jack?”I whispered, trying to turn my head, but cringed as I suddenly became very aware of every single pain in my body. Unlike the last time, every ounce of pain didn’t go away after I’d conveniently moved on to think about something else. I had a feeling this was going to take way longer than a day before I’d be able to go home.

He immediately stood up so I wouldn’t have to crane my neck. “Hey, don’t try to move, okay? The doctors said you were hurt pretty bad.” He kept his voice soft, but even then his voice cracked at the mention of my injuries.

Instantly, I felt my cheeks grow cold. “So that wasn’t a dream? There really was a crash?” I asked him.

He swallowed hard, eyes darting to the floor as he hung his head sadly. He didn’t have to say anything.

“What’s wrong.” I whimpered, feeling absolutely sick of the dread in the pit of my stomach. “Is...is Madison okay?”

He quickly nodded. “She’s fine.” He assured me. “She broke her hand pretty badly, but other than that she’s up and walking. She’s been worried the fuck about you though.” He paused, his eyes finally meeting my semi-hooded ones as he added, “All of us have.”

“Then what’s the bad news? It hasn’t been five years, has it?” I rushed, my heart already beating wildly at the thought of being stuck in that hell again.

He frowned at me, giving me an odd look for a beat before replying. “What? No...it’s...” He sucked in an uneven breath as he shot back down in the seat he’d placed next to me. His rough fingertips grazed the top of my left hand before daring to entwine his fingers into mine.

I continued to watch him out of the corner of my eye until I stubbornly moved my neck just enough so I could once again look at him eye to eye. Jack hardly noticed though, keeping his gaze firmly planted in the distance as he slowly admitted, “It’s about the baby, Sally.”

Every vein in my body froze. “What do you mean--she’s alright, isn’t she?” I asked him, desperate for him to say yes.

He gulped, as silent tears fell down the corner of his eyes in a steady stream. “They, uh, they told me they tried everything they could, but the extent of your injuries made really tough on the baby.” He let out a sniff as he paused. "The doctors tried to--tried to deliver via c-section in hopes of saving her but...”

“Our...our baby’s gone?” I whispered, the words sounding inconceivable out loud.

He nodded, gripping my hand harder in a tight squeeze, saying the only thing that he could think of. “I’m so sorry, Sally...they tried everything, I promise.”

“Our baby’s gone.” I repeated numbly.

He choked out a sob, nodding again as he squeezed my hand once more. “I thought I lost both of you, at first. After I’d heard from Madison what’d happened to you...well let’s just say I thought it’d be a miracle I’d ever speak to you again.” He paused, smiling weakly at me with watery eyes. “But here we are...”

I stared at him, my own heavy eyes getting damp with unshed tears. “Jack, what are we going to do?” I whimpered, keeping my gaze up as I knew looking down at my baby-less bump would make me loose it.

Jack, noticing I was seconds away from bawling my eyes out, grabbed my cheek, before gently cupping my jaw in his hand. “We’re Jack and Sally, okay?” He told me, the confidence in his voice equally for his benefit as it was for me, I was sure. “We can get through this.”

I sniffed, staring deep into his determined chocolate brown eyes. We both knew this would hands down be the hardest thing we would probably ever have to go thru, yet the challenge didn’t even make him blink. Sure, we were both devastated inside, our hearts breaking over the loss over our child but unlike the Jack in my nightmare, the one I knew and loved with all my heart wasn’t about to give up on me; wasn’t about to give up on us. Which was why I nodded slowly, repeating, “We can get through this...”

...I hope.

Notes

AHHHH it's the end of Disenchanted! Now onto part 3, which again will be *relatively* short in comparison to the monster that was Enchanted. I'm pretty sure it'll be called Under the Water. I've already made a banner and everything lol... though it may take a few days to get the first chapter of that up, as I still have some planning to do before I can sit down and write the first chapter.

I'm SOOOOO sorry for the emotional rollercoaster that was this story. I've actually had this planned from the beginning. Enchanted was the happy one, this was the disastrous one, and the next will focus on recovery :)

Thank you so much for your enthusiastic support! <3 you guys so much, and I'll post another 'chapter' on here ASAP when the next part is up! ENJOY!

PS. Opening lyrics are from "Haunted" by Taylor Swift