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Kenzi rolled over in my arms and faced me in her sleep. We’d come back to my place after our date and she hadn’t even stirred when I placed her on my bed. Aiden and Staci were in the living room watching television when I walked in and Staci had already put Daniel to bed. I had a quick shower and then crawled into bed beside Kenzi.

I check the clock beside my bed. It was only midnight but Kenzi was becoming restless. She twisted to the side, mumbling under her breath and when she stopped moving I relaxed. Our date had gone off without a hitch, even after that halfwit Alex accused Kenzi of messing around with me. He said something about a journal and I’d been thinking about it ever since, but I thought better of asking Kenzi about it. She was clearly upset that he’d brought it up which told me that it wasn’t something she wanted to talk about.

I exhaled when it looked as if she’d stopped moving in her sleep and was just about ready to shut my own eyes when she screamed. Her head thrashed side-to-side and her back arched. Her hands were fisted atop the comforter and her legs were kicking at air. I sat upright and moved to grab her shoulders, but her wailing sob had me stopping short.

“NO!” she cried out. “NO!”

I leaned over her and tried to stay relatively calm, but watching the expression on her face change from one of terror to one of anguish made it difficult not to touch her. I gently held her shoulders. “Kenzi, wake up baby. You’re having a nightmare.”

She cried out, but every word was more and more unintelligible. Her body went limp, although her crying got worse. For lack of any other ideas, I lifted her up and settled her in my lap. She wrapped her arms and legs around me, though I was sure she was still asleep. Her body shook, and I rubbed my hands up and down her back hoping that she knew I was there. Her breathing evened out and I knew she was finally awake when she lifted her head from my shoulder. Her cheeks were tear-stained, her lashes dark, her cheeks flushed and a little damp with sweat.

“Vaughan…” she touched my face, tracing her finger tips over my lips. “You’re here.”

I leaned against the headboard. “I’m here.” I brushed some hair from her face and brought my hand around to the nape of her neck. The skin there was damp too. “What were you dreaming about?”

Kenzi sniffled, and fiddled with her dress. “I’m so hot,” she sighed. “My dress is too tight. I can’t breathe.”

My hands found the hem of her dress, and she lifted her arms up so that I could take her dress off. She was in a lace demi cup bra and matching panties but my eyes were trained on her face, lined with frustration and torment.

“Better?”

She nodded, resting her palms on my pecs.

“Tell me about your nightmare.”

“I t-think it was about my accident.” She hiccupped, making the words come out as a stutter.

“It was dark, and I was upset, but I could make out where I was.” Her lip wobbled, and a few more tears spilled over her eyelids. Her body started shaking, despite her saying that she was hot. Her skin felt clammy beneath my palms. “I was looking at the road and then I got distracted by lights and someone drove into me. There was g-glass everywhere, and someone was screaming my name but I didn’t know who.” I did. It was me. I was the one screaming for her that night, hoping that she was still alive. But I couldn’t tell Kenzi any of that. She was starting to figure things out on her own and no matter how desperate I was to have her back, I didn’t want her to want me because thought she had to.

“The pain I felt I was so real and I was scared of being ripped away but I didn’t know what from. I was thinking about someone,” she wiped furiously at her eyes with shaky hands, and her voice broke, “but it wasn’t anyone I knew.”

“It’s okay,” I whispered, and lowered her head so that I could kiss her forehead. “It’s over now.”

But the expression on her face told me she was reliving it, even if it was just the pieces that had gripped her in her nightmare.

“I have to ask you something.” Her eyes searched mine, and I almost dreaded what I thought she was going to ask me. I wasn’t sure I could lie to her if she did.

“Anything.”

“Where you there?”

I stared into her blue eyes and took a minute to formulate an answer that wouldn’t upset her. She wasn’t fragile, not at all, but too much information too soon could also throw her off. Her memory hadn’t come back yet, and no one was sure it ever would, but it seemed like she’d done the best she could to piece her life together and move on.

“Yes. I was there.” I inhaled deeply, and expelled the heavy breath, watching the way Kenzi’s body moved with my chest. “I was behind you when it happened.”

“It was really bad wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. You were out when I got to you and you didn’t wake up for a while.”

“I wish I could remember what happened, Vaughan. Between you and me.”

So did I, but I didn’t say that.

“I feel like it’s something big.” Kenzi leaned in, and brought her mouth closer to mine. “When I’m with you I feel it there and it’s driving me crazy because I don’t know what it is.”

“As much as I want to tell you everything….”

Kenzi exhaled, obviously a little frustrated. She tried to move from my lap but I had her by the hips. By then I was already sporting a semi - Kenzi was in her underwear sitting on my crotch for fucks sake - and when Kenzi realized it she started moving her hips.