☆:**:.linger.:**:☆

don't have much time

"childhood living is easy to do
the things you wanted, i bought them for you
graceless lady, you know who i am
you know i can't let you slide through my hands

wild horses couldn't drag me away
wild, wild horses couldn't drag me away."

molly's voice caught, though she didn't know why.

glancing around, the girl took in her surroundings.

now this wasn't right.

"i watched you suffer a dull, aching pain
now you decided to show me the same
no sweeping exits or offstage lines
could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind."

she kept singing along, though she didn't know why.

she glanced to her left.

chris.

but it wasn't... chris?

his hair was short, spiky.

and- blonde?

"wild horses couldn't drag me away
wild, wild horses couldn't drag me away."

by now molly was sure this wasn't real.

somehow, she had taken some bad acid or something and dreamed up this scenario of her and chris and- nancy wilson? singing the rolling stones in- a bar?

but why is everyone wearing black?

mentally molly did a quick checklist:

chris- check.

andy- absent?

'well who is here?'

she spotted a familiar face in the corner

jerry cantrell.

also looking... not quite himself.

almost... older.

and kind of fucked up; like he had been crying for 24 hours straight.

susan sat at his table.

she too looked as though she had aged ten years.

'who was i just with?' molly questioned herself.

layne!

"i know i dreamed you a sin and a lie
i have my freedom, but i don't have much time."

but he wasn't there either.

'no this isn't right at all,' molly thought to herself, 'this is a dream.'

"faith has been broken, tears must be cried."

there.

someone's face, printed out big, propped up by the door. but it was distorted- molly couldn't quite tell who is was.

"let's do some living after we die.'

'is this a funeral?'

molly blinked tears out of her eyes.

'this is a dream. this a dream. wake up. fucking wake up!"

molly shot up from the bed she laid on, panting, and choking on a sob.

"molly? what's wrong, are you ok?" molly glanced over to her right- layne.

she gasped for breath.

"wild... horses," she wheezed.

"wha-what?"

"rolling... stones," she said, finally blinking the last few tears out of her eyes.

"i- well, um, what about it?" layne said, stepping forward and sitting next to her on the bed, gingerly laying a hand on her shoulder.

they were in chris' room, molly realized.

slowly everything came back to her- last night was her birthday. and... jon came over.

"molly, are you sure you're okay?" layne asked, giving her a concerned look.

maybe she had suffered brain damage from knocking her head on the table last night.

"i'm just... discombobulated," molly said, offering a soft chuckle.

layne dropped his hand and offered her a small smile, still not convinced she was okay.

"what time is it?" she asked softly, bringing the comforter to her shoulders.

he glanced over at the small digital clock on the desk,  "3:25."

"is- who else is here?" molly questioned.

"just us and andy."

it felt like she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding- everyone that was missing from her dream was here. they were fine.

"well... why are you sleeping on the floor?"

layne was thankful for the night, for the darkness shadowed his heated cheeks, "oh... well, i just wanted to make sure you were alright. y'know, with everything that happened last night."

"you didn't have to sleep on the floor."

"well..." layne trailed off, looking towards the ground.

"c'mon," she sighed, pulling back the covers, "this bed is big enough for more than two."

silently, layne slid his legs under the blanket, head resting softly on the pillow.

he started at molly's as her eyes drifted closed, floating into unconsciousness.

"what's wild horses mean?" he whispered softly.

"go to sleep layne."

if you can't tell i'm in my feelings.
today sucks, two of my favorite people to ever walk this earth passed away today. there's so much i wish i could say about them, to them. but i just can't. i hope everyone is doing ok. i hope someone understands the wild horses reference too. i leave you with this chapter and this quote from the prophet, to think on-

"Then Almitra spoke, saying, We would ask now of Death.
And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance."

thank you for reading <3