I groaned, feeling the sun rays on my face as I slowly opened my eyes. What time was it? How long had I been sleeping? I felt someone's arm wrapped around my waist. He smelt good. I turned my gaze towards the person I was spooning with and screamed in disbelief.

"Jared?" Tears started falling down my cheeks of happiness. He was here. He was here with me, and I couldn't be happier. "Jared? Babe, I can't believe you're here."

I smiled and caressed his handsome face with my thumbs. I needed to hear his voice, see his beautiful green eyes. "Please, wake up. I'm here, babe." I yelled, desperate when he didn't respond. "Please, wake up! Babe!"

I moved my fingers to check his pulse on his wrist and started panicking when there wasn't one. I sat up and shook his shoulders.

"No, please! Don't go. I need you!" I sobbed, holding his freezing body in my arms, and an unpleasant odor started to come to my nostrils, replacing the pleasant smell from moments ago.

"You killed him," someone said from behind me with a creepy voice that sent me shivers down my spine. I slowly turned my gaze to look at the unknown person. "Don't you see? You killed him. You're a murderer!" I realized the person was a she, and she was wearing a black hood that covered half his face.

"No! That is not true!" I gazed down at his body and saw blood on Jared's shirt, and so were my hands, my shirt, and the sheets of the bed. The more I looked at it, the more I freaked out, and the more I felt the blood pumping in my head like a bomb ticking about to explode. "No, no, no! I-I didn't... No, no, no!"

His blood was warm in my hands. My whole boy was shaking as I tried to remove it with my t-shirt.

"See? You killed him!" exclaimed the unknown voice still behind me. I forcibly closed my eyes, wanting to erase the memory of his dead body from my mind.

"I'm sorry!" I sobbed, rapidly crawling to the floor, embracing myself tightly with my knees on my chest, and my heart stopped when I spotted a revolver under the bed. I took it, wanting to prove to her that I didn't kill him by checking the magazine and its chamber. To my relief, they were empty. So, I didn't kill Jared.

But as soon as I leave it where I found it and crawled backward away from the bed, my hands brushed something hard and small. I knew what they were, for they were warm: two bullet casings.

"Murderer! You killed him!"

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I sobbed, wanting the person to kill me and end this nightmare. If I had the chance, if I could switch places with Jared and end my life to save him, I would do it without hesitation. "Please, kill me instead!"

"Allys!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please, forgive me. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry!"

"Allys!" someone shouted, and I immediately woke up, meeting a pair of worried dark brown eyes. Dave. "What the fuck? Are you okay?"

I instantly sat up, a few tears coming out of my eyes as I shook my head, confused. I've had plenty of nightmares, but nothing compared to this one. It felt so genuine that I was shaking and sweating.

"Dave, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? Come here," he said, wanting to embrace me.

"No, please. Don't touch me," I backed away from him, still sobbing. "Please, don't come any closer."

"Allys, I'm not going to harm you if that's what you're thinking. Let me help you, please."

I shook my head. "I don't want any help. I want him back. Please." The more I thought about it, the more I felt the pain that I tried to forget.

"Allys. Hey, hey. Look at me. Allys, please." His voice was calm. And when I looked into his worried eyes, he said, "I want to help you. Do you trust me?"

'You tend to shut the people that want to help you out.' That's what my therapist told me. 'To heal, you need to open up to people, let them in.'

"You can't help someone who has PTSD," I confessed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm an asshole and didn't tell you beforehand, so apology accepted," said Dave to lighten up the mood. "Do you trust me?" he asked again, and I slowly nodded. "Good. Cause I trust you too. It's okay if I come closer to you?" I nodded again.

He moved slowly to the other side of the bed and asked if he could hug me, to which I said yes. He wrapped his arms around my stiffened and shaking body, caressing my back up and down, soothingly calming me down as I gave in to his warm, breathing in and out. "Shh... it was just a nightmare. I'm here now. I'm here to help you."

I tightly wrapped my arms around his waist and closed my eyes.

It was just a nightmare. None of it was real.

It was just a nightmare, I mentally repeated. Dave was real. He was here.

When my heartbeat finally slowed down, he gently pulled me away, and looked at me with a furrowed brow, wiping first my tears, then the sweat from my forehead with his black t-shirt.

"Are you all right?" I nodded, thanking him. He got up from the bed and walked to the door.

"Please, don't leave," I murmured. My throat started to ache from all the yelling. I didn't want to be alone. I didn't want to be alone with the darkness of my mind and my thoughts. I didn't want to sleep. I was afraid, too afraid of even close my eyes.

"I wasn't going to," he softly said. "I'm going to get you a glass of water and sit on that armchair," he pointed to the armchair near the door and smiled at me before leaving.

I heard him speak to the flight attendant. I didn't know how many minutes have passed, but it felt like an eternity when he came back with his laptop and the glass of water in his hand.

"Thank you," I said and emptied it with three big gulps. Dave took it and put it down on the bedside table before pulling the blanket up to my neck. "So gentleman."

"Always," he smirked at me and sat on the armchair, facing me. "I'll be here watching you like a hawk if you want to get back to sleep."

Even though I didn't want to go back to sleep, I did. Despite feeling ashamed and embarrassed that Dave had to see this side of me, I felt more safe having him in the same room with the lights on than all by myself with the darkness wanting to devour me. Safe that I could close my eyes and let myself drift off to sleep, knowing that he was here to run by my side if I had another nightmare. Safe that I could listen to him working and typing on his laptop like a lullaby.

***

I woke up hearing Dave's loud snores. I thought I was dreaming and hearing a noise, but as the noise got louder and louder each time, I woke up, realizing it was him. He was comfortably sleeping in the recliner armchair with his mouth wide open that I could not help but giggled. A ray of sunshine was hitting half his face, not bothering him at all. So, I got out of bed, closed the window, and carefully pulled the blanket up to his neck without waking him up.

For a second, I forgot about what happened earlier but, on my way to bed, I wondered: what if I could no longer tell which one was real and which one was not? I crossed my legs and stared at the tiny window, aghast as I felt the pain and fear running through my whole body. It felt so real that I could not forget all about it. How could something so unreal hurt you so much? Emotionally and mentally?

"Hey," I said when Dave was waking up. "Good morning."

"You mean good afternoon," he corrected me, his eyes half-closed. I glanced at the small screen hung on the opposite wall, 0430 pm. "Did I wake you up? Did you have another nightmare?"

"Your snores did," I chuckled, and he opened his eyes, looking at me with a grin on his face.

"You slept well?" He looked like an adorable kid rubbing his sleepy eyes, not wanting to wake up, and then I realized that I was not the only one who needed to get some rest. He barely slept these days because of work, and I felt guilty that I let him sleep in the armchair.

I shyly said, "I did. Did you? That armchair looks uncomfortable."

"Appearances can be deceiving. If it weren't this comfy, I wouldn't have fallen asleep in the first place."

"Can I try it next time we fly to New York?" I offered. Dave needed his sleep more than I did.

"What do I get in return?" he asked mischievously.

I pointed at it. "Duh! A bed, perhaps? It's your bed, and I don't want to take advantage of it just because I had a nightmare. You also need to sleep."

He laughed. "I'll think about it.

"Come on! There's nothing to think about. I'll trade this super comfy and spacious bed for that cozy armchair."

"I'll think about it."

I rolled my eyes and laid in the bed. "Why is it so hard to make a deal with you?"

I heard him chuckle and felt the edge of the bed sink in, making me sit up. "I didn't turn it down. It's a maybe."

"A maybe that will turn out to be a no."

"Maybe," he teased, and I lightly punched his arm. "Did you honestly have a good sleep?" I nodded. "Then, I think I'll have to turn down your offer. I cannot swap your good sleep for my sake. I wouldn't bear it."

I stared at him, stunned at his words. He cared about me, but why. That's the part I didn't understand. We were two people living in the same house but knew nothing much other than what we eat, what we wear, and what we do.

"Is there a reason why?" He said as if reading my mind. "I just do."

I smiled at him, giving him thanks. Not for the bed and for worrying about me, but for what happened earlier. "I'm sorry if-"

"You do like saying the word sorry very much, huh? You don't have to apologize. You were just having a nightmare. Everyone has them."

Oh, Dave, if you only knew. It was not just about the nightmares, but about everything that I went through: the pain, the sadness, the guilt, the anger..., it was so hard to keep all of this inside of me that I feared someday everything will come out and nothing good will happen.

"Does it happen often? Did you have it before the PTSD?" I was glad he didn't ask why I had it in the first place.

I looked down at my fidgeting hands. "Lately? Yes, maybe because my parents' death brought everything back that I tried to forget these years. I'm sure you already know I was in the Army, and it's okay if you have questions."

"I do, but I don't want to force you," he said in a soft voice, and I looked up. "I'll wait for you to open up to me. There's no rush. But you have to promise me something."

"I can't promise to take the bed whenever you please because of me."

He laughed. "Not that. Promise me that whenever you want me there by your side, you'll tell me, and I'll come, like today. I'll sleep on the floor, on the chair, anywhere....." he stretched his hand.

It sounded reasonable to me, so I shook his hand, "I promise."

He nodded. "Do you want to talk about it? You were pretty shaken when I came in."

I didn't want to tell him. Not yet. I didn't want to involve another person in my drama.

"I- I don't remember. All I remember is that it was dark," I lied. The more I tried not to remember, the more I did.

"I haven't had a nightmare in years," he said, looking at the blankets, furrowing his brows as if he was trying hard to remember it. "The last one I had affected me so much, I couldn't sleep for days. I dreamt of Kara, my little sister. She was dead in front of me, killed - but the worst part was that I couldn't do anything to help her. I couldn't move, as if something was preventing me from coming to her and save her. I could've done anything to help her, but I didn't." I could see the hurt and worry in his eyes as if it happened yesterday. Were my eyes the same as his every time I had a nightmare?

"I was so scared that I started distancing myself from her, in case I hurt her. Then, one day, realizing that it was just a silly nightmare and that none of it was real, I stopped and started spending more time with her," he glanced up at me. "Don't let the nightmares get into you, okay? They're not real and cannot hurt you. It's all in your mind. So, don't let them step away from the people you love."

"But sometimes they do," I confessed, the hurt in my voice.

"That's what they want you to think, but you can stop them by simply ignoring them; don't let them mess with your head. They're not real."

I tried to ignore them for a while. But how could I neglect something that has already happened? How could I forget the tragedy that I experienced years ago, and it was now tormenting me in my sleep? I had to live with that image in my head for the rest of my life. And no matter how hard I try to ignore it, it always came back to me, making me the person I was today.

"How old is your sister?" I asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"She is 8. She is everything to me, and I would do anything to protect her." Seeing the protective and caring brother side of Dave melted my heart. He was showing that part to me, to a nobody.

Dave speaking about his family made me think about how important were the only people I have left. They have protected me and cared for me these years, that all I did was being selfish to them for only thinking about my pain and not of them. I was hurt and selfish, and I had to change that.

"Family is everything. Of course, you'll do anything for her."

"I think you're going to like her when you meet her," he smiled. "But I should warn you that she is a pain in the ass, more than his brother."

I scoffed. "I doubt that."

He chuckled and got up from the bed. "Come on. We are about to land on anytime soon, so let's eat something first."

We headed to our seats and, while we were waiting for lunch to come, he started telling me stories about his sister: how she lost her baby tooth and cried all day because she thought it would not grow back. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to smile again -especially in front of the boy she liked. He told me how horrified he was when he picked her up on her first day of school because she came out with dirty clothes. He thought she got into a food fight or something, but it was because of the crayons she used. And between those sweet and amusing stories, I found myself excited to meet her, to see another part of Dave's life that wasn't just work-related.

Thank you for all the new readers, for your votes and comments. It means a lot to me, and I'm super excited to share with you what's gonna happen in my next chapter.

Q: Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert? I'm an introvert person XD I'm really shy, but I'm funny and can talk non-stop once you get to know me.

XOXO