Dreaming of Reality

**Prologue**

The man slapped me again.

"I'm not telling you anything," I muttered.

I felt hard knuckles fly into my face and I hung my head, thinking the man would stop. Instead he lifted my face up and slapped it again.

My face burned, my nose was on the verge of breaking, my lips were cracked and bloody, but all I could think about was him. I remembered his dark curls falling into his face. His smell, cucumbers. I'd never known why he smelled like cucumbers, I'd never thought to ask. Suddenly my thoughts became reality and I smelled it. I smelled the cucumbers. Then all the memories came flooding back. I opened my eyes to get rid of the thoughts and I saw them. I saw those eyes, the color of melted chocolate. I searched them for a sign of reality, somewhere. In the left corner of the left eye, I saw the green fleck. It was him.

"Hey," he said casually. His voice was so familiar. All the memories came crashing back, faster than I could get my mind to stop them. I closed my eyes, trying to force the memories out. It wasn't working.

I felt a warmth in my cheek. The burning sensation came back and I flinched, drawing in a breath.

"Sorry," he murmured gently. The weak barrier I had built in my mind broke and the memories flooded in.

I remembered the time we laid down, under the night sky. We saw a shooting star, but we didn't need a wish. We had each other, that was all we needed.

I remembered when we saw that rainbow, so clear. Then we lost it, and he insisted on driving around until we found it again. I remembered the smile on his face when we found it, and how we watched it until it disappeared.

I remembered the time he told me he loved me, and I told him I loved him too.

I remembered the memory that I always tried to forget but never could. The ticking of the bomb, the numbers counting down. I remembered the feeling of fear as he held my hand and guided me down each hallway and through every door. I remember getting outside and turning around to see no one behind me. I remember the heat on my face as I watched the house I grew up in explode right in front of me.

!But he was right here, right in front of me. And all I could do was fall into his arms and cry as he told me that everything would be okay. And that day, at that moment, I believed him.