Jesus Christ. How could he cause me so much pain without even touching me? Quit telling me my own fears—I already know them. But no, that was all it was…fear. It wasn’t reality. Kiera and I…we loved each other…we were going to make it, have a life together. A good one. I defiantly shook my head as I kneeled on the ground before him. “No, she loves me,” I bit out.

Dad only smirked at my bravado. “Yeah, my wife loved me once too.” And then he kneed me in the jaw.

I woke up with a start, my chest heaving, my body covered in a light sheen of sweat, my tousled sheets tight and constricting. I looked around my room, searching for my dad…searching for Kiera, but I was alone. Completely alone. Closing my eyes, I tried to calm my breaths, tried to control my emotions. What the fuck…? Why couldn’t I keep him out of my head? Why did all of my worries have to shift into absolute terror while I was sleeping? It really made me never want to sleep again.

Stumbling out of bed, I groggily looked at my clock. Much like in my dream, it actually was getting late, and I really did need to pick up Kiera soon…but I couldn’t like this. I didn’t want her to see me so…broken. I needed to put my game face back on.

Deciding a nice long shower would distract me, I headed to the bathroom. The freshness of my dream stopped me cold as I stared at the cracked bathroom door. Denny and Kiera… My gaze shifted to their old bedroom door—a door I never opened anymore. Don’t go there. Let it go, or you’ll never move forward. Inhaling a deep breath, I stepped into the bathroom and faced my demons. Again.

The steaming water pouring over my body relaxed me. I didn’t need to worry so much. Evan was right, Jenny was right…everything was going to be fine. I was going on tour with my friends. It was going to be fun. It was going to be great. Dad was wrong. When I got back from touring, Kiera and I were going to be better than ever. Stronger. Because this separation was going to test us in a way we’d never really been tested before, and we were going to pass that test. We’d been through too much for this to not work out.

Those words washing over me calmed me, brightened me, and my dream finally faded from my memory…I could barely even remember the details anymore.