So, I was watching one of my favorite childhood movies with my daughter, and this... idea popped into my head. I don't know if anyone has tried this, but I'm going to take a whack at it. (Quick edit, originally I was going to model this after the NeverEnding story, movie not book, but as I began working on chapter 4 a deviation began to form in my brain and I'm actually quite excited for where this is going to go.

Let me know what y'all think.

Gasping awake, Killian shot straight up in bed. Breathing deeply he looked around and relaxed when he recognized the safety of his bedroom. With an audible breath, he flopped back onto his pillow and stared at the ceiling to get his heart rate to calm down.

It was always the same, a reliving of the night his parents died. The flashing light, squealing tires, his mother's screams. The nightmares had slowed down over the last year, but it was still hard for him to even get into a car. Passing semi trailers caused mild panic attacks. He still did not have full use of his left hand. The tendons that were torn were slow to heal. The doctors said he might not ever get full use of it back, and he should feel grateful that they were even able to save his hand at all.

He was grateful, he just would have traded both hands to have his parents back.

"Killian? Is everything ok in there?" He heard his brother call out with a tiny knock on the door.

"Yea, I'm ok." He called back. After the accident, his brother had come home from college to take care of him. Their 8 year age gap helped with Liam gaining custody, along with Killian's pleading to stay with his brother and not be carted off to a foster home. Liam was finishing up his bachelor's degree online, and working part time at the high school. Killian would never understand Liam's fascination with history, but it made him happy. Happiness was in short supply. He would just prefer to stick to his fantasy worlds.

Give him Tolkien over anything about Henry VIII's inability to keep it in his pants any day.

"Get your lazy arse out of bed. Breakfast is almost ready, and it is NOT okay for you to be late to school again." Groaning Killian swung his blanket off and grumbled his way out of bed.

"Was it the nightmares again?" Liam asked as he sat at the kitchen table. Wordlessly, Killian just nodded and poured himself a glass of orange juice. He avoided looking at his brother, he didn't want to see the sympathy in his eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, it's the same as it always is. Just reliving the crash again." Liam made a noncommittal grunt behind him as he turned back to the stove. Cooking wasn't amongst Liam's list of talents, but he tried. Eggs were always scrambled, which didn't bother Killian. Runny yolky eggs were just nasty. Bacon was just to the edible side of burnt. Pancakes were either flat and tasted like paper, or so thick they were still raw in the middle. Killian never complained though. Liam had put his life on hold to come home and take care of his 'little brother'.

"At least they're not happening every night anymore. It's been what, 4 months?" Liam sat a plate of food in front of him. The food looked edible, and Killian was highly impressed. "That's progress right? Dr Hopper said that they would subside eventually."

"The only progress that matters is you managed to cook an edible meal. There's hope for you yet," he teased in an effort to deflect the conversation.

"Oy, you watch the sass out that mouth of yours otherwise I'll start making you cook your own meals." Liam threatened while ruffling Killian's hair. It's already disheveled mass sticking up even more. He scowled at his older brother. It was hard enough to tame the mass of hair he had, and his brother knew how much he hated it being messed with. Often times it was a topic of jest from his brother that he should just get it all shaved off to help tame it. Liam just chuckled and sat down to eat.

"At least I wouldn't have to worry about food poisoning." Killian barbed back

"Food poisoning is the least of your problems." Liam took on a serious tone.

Killian rolled his eyes. Here it comes. "Which of my teachers called this time? And how much trouble am I in? I knew that you not burning breakfast was too good to be true."

His brother took a deep sigh. "Your math teacher called me. She says you haven't been turning in your homework. I know that you're doing it. We sit down together every night. I know you don't need help, you're a mathematical genius. So what is going on?"

"She doesn't believe me that I'm doing them myself. She won't give me credit on the work that I do turn in because I do most of the simpler calculations in my head. She's trying to tell me I'm cheating because I'm better at math than her."

"I'm sure that's not true-"

"It is Liam! You've seen me. You know how fast I do the problems. She just hasn't tried to give me detention yet because she can't prove I'm cheating, which I'm not! She won't give me credit because I don't show every single monotonous step. Seriously, I'm not going to write a specific line to show that 4+5=9. It's redundant, and a waste of time." Killian complained.

Liam took a deep breath. "Ok, I will talk to her. She can't not give you credit for something you are doing even if she doesn't like how you're doing it. We'll figure this out."

Hope flickered in Killian's eyes, "you believe me?"

"Of course I do. I watch you do the math problems in front of me every night." Killian smiled in appreciation. "I however do have a deal to make with you. I know it's boring, and stupid, but if you can play along with her, get your grade up to at least B by the end of this quarter, we'll talk about those sailing lessons you wanted this summer."

Killian's face lit up. "Really? Are you for real? I thought you said they might be too expensive."

Liam smiled fondly at his brother's excitement. "I'm not saying they did, and I'm not saying they didn't, but the lawyers may have called and everything is finally settled about our parents wills. Our inheritance may or may not be ready for us within the next month."

In a burst of joy, Killian jumped up and hugged his brother's neck. "thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Liam just laughed.

"Remember what I said though. You have to play nice with the teacher, even if you are smarter than her."

"I promise, I do."

"Good, finish eating and I'll drop you off on my way to the high school."

An overwhelming flood of happiness filled Killian's heart. He hadn't been this happy in over a year. And nothing was going to bring him down today.

What happens next? Is the happy feeling going to last?

Dun dun duuuunnnnnnnn