June 30th, 2017

- Present Day -

"Y'know, I really wish you would've came and visited me. You did promise you would, after all," Gray mumbles almost incoherently under his breath as Zach gently places his drink on the coffee table and glances over at him, his eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment.

"What? Where did that come from?" he questions curiously, slightly leaning towards his little brother.

Gray stares back at him before gazing down and shaking his head slowly, his lips curving up into a highly forced grimace. "Nothing. Nevermind. I guess I was just kinda thinking about that day when you left and how I got so upset. It was stupid of me to do. I mean, look at how well you're living here. I'd wanna move out too if this-"

"Hey," Zach pauses momentarily as Gray glances over at him, waiting for him to continue. "It wasn't stupid of you. It was actually stupid of me to leave you when I did. You were still recovering from all this stuff, and I just up and left to go live in a ginormous house by myself."

Gray chuckles softly, "Like I said, I don't blame you. It's just… Even after you told me that day that you would never forget me and that you're not leaving me- I still worried, Zach. I guess I was-"

"Don't," Zach holds his hand up, signaling for Gray to stop talking. "Seriously, don't. You know I wouldn't forget you, Gray. You know that. And, about that promise that I made? You're right. I broke it. I shouldn't have even made it in the first place because I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep it. I wanted to come and see you, I really did. But then, I just got caught up in everything, and I got my job, and, at that point, I didn't know what to do anymore."

"I know, Zach, I know. I didn't mean to- well, upset you, I guess would be the words for me to use," Gray replies quietly, hazarding a gaze up at Zach when he gently places his hand on his forearm.

"It's okay. You didn't make me upset. I just feel kind've bad about making a promise that I was unable to keep," he responds blankly as Gray rests his head on his older brother's shoulder.

"Please don't feel bad, Zach. I understand that things happen. It's just… I don't know. I think I'm getting kinda tired, and it's starting to scramble my brain and make me spew a bunch of nonsense."

Zach chuckles softly, his dark brown eyes gleaming in obvious guilt. He wanted to see his brother. He wanted to be there for him. But, he just… couldn't. "Hey. How about we go to bed, yeah? Before you spew anymore nonsense."

Gray gazes up at him as Zach latches tightly onto his forearm, tugging him in the direction of the stairwell. He rushes up each step—following closely behind his older brother—and they pause in the hallway. "Goodnight, Zach. Thanks again for having me over."

Zach ruffles his golden curls affectionately and pats him on the back. "G'night, dude. It's no problem—you're always welcome. And remember… if you need anything, don't hesitate to come and wake me up, okay? I'm just across the hall."

Gray nods as they part ways; he gently shuts the wooden bedroom door behind him. He unzips his dark green backpack and grabs his PJs—a blue t-shirt and shorts with a striped pattern—throwing them on. The 13-year-old slides his hand into the outermost pocket on the bag and fumbles around in it until his fingers come into contact with a rough crumpled piece of material. Gray tugs it out and smiles warmly at the long-forgotten memory—a miniscule paper plate and ruler folded in the shape of a makeshift axe. He hastily chucks it back in the bag when a light knock resonates through the door.

"Hey, Gray, are you awake?" Zach questions softly, his ear pressed gently against the smooth wooden surface.

"Yeah, what's up?" Gray responds anxiously as the door swings open and Zach steps in, a fluffy white feather pillow tucked under his left arm.

"Here," he carefully tosses it to Gray, who catches it with ease and places it behind him. "I remembered that I didn't have a pillow in this room, and I figured you might want one."

"Thanks," Gray replies quietly as he slides in under the heavy cream-colored sheets and flops down on the mattress, instantly sinking into the foam topper.

"No problem, bro. G'night… again," Zach chuckles softly, and Gray grins as he disappears back out in the hallway.

He reaches to turn the lamp off on the nightstand and flips over to his left side, allowing the soothing darkness and peaceful silence to tug him into a deep slumber.


"No, Zach! Don't leave me here! I can't get out!" he screams, his shaky voice involuntarily cracking as the 18-year-old fades away into the darkness—a bright spark igniting a flame in his place. His anxious gaze darts restlessly about the room—the balcony—in attempt to find another way to escape.

There has to be another way, his brain yells at him, there has to be.

"Zach! Zach, come back! Please!"

The blazes grow up higher and higher and flare above him until he's surrounded, no longer able to see around them, towering over his head. He's hopeless. It's jump in the pool and live or burn to death. He can't jump in the pool, it's too hard. There's too many memories; too many unwanted memories.

He sinks to his knees, tears rolling down his face in heavy streams. He cries out in misery as the first flame brushes against his arm, and he takes one last glance at the pool—safety. "Zach! Please! I'm still scared! I can't jump! I'll burn to death! Come back!" he breaks down a sobbing mess, tucking his legs to his chest as he stares intently at the fire that slowly builds, a mere few inches away from his face. There's no escape. He's a goner.

"Zach?" he sniffs softly, "Please. I'm still scared of the water. I can't do it. I can't jump."

He buries his face in his knees—the sobs racking his body—and shouts in agony as the blinding arrays of orange and yellow engulf him; he, too, fades away to nothing. He could have jumped. He could have lived.


His blue eyes slowly flutter open, and he sits up, examining his body thoroughly—confused as he does not see a single burn remaining on his skin. He nearly cries out in surprise when he discovers Zach hovering over him. "Zach!" he exclaims anxiously, hastily throwing his arms around his older brother's neck.

Zach pries his hands off him and violently shoves him back down on the hardwood floor. "Get off me. Don't touch me. Don't talk to me. Just leave."

His eyes widen slightly, and he attempts catch his rapidly increasing breath as he slowly scoots away from his brother. "W-what? Why?"

"You're such a baby! You don't deserve to be here with me! I can't believe I'm related to a wimp like you, Gray!" Zach shouts bitterly, his eyebrows furrowed crossly. "Just get out."

"No, Zach! Ple-"


"Gray! Wake up!" Zach exclaims attentively, vigorously shaking Gray until the 13-year-old jerks awake, sweat pouring down his forehead and back.

He glances up at Zach and flips over onto his stomach, attempting to hide the tears currently forming in the corners of his eyes. Gray shivers when his older brother gently places his hand on his back, and he relives the horrible false memories of his dream.

"Hey," Zach begins as he carefully climbs over Gray and lies down next to him, sliding under the covers. "I didn't know you still have nightmares, Gray."

"Neither did I," Gray sighs faintly, quickly swiping away the heavy tears falling from his eyes. "It was horrible, Zach. Much more horrible than the park. It was… horrible."

Zach's lips curve up into a sympathetic grin as he scoots closer to his younger brother, slinging an arm around him. "You wanna tell me about it? I'm listening."

Gray hesitates momentarily, and before he starts to speak, Zach cuts in, quickly adding one more sentence on. "And, before you get worried about it, I know you're still scared of the water, Gray."

Gray's eyes widen slightly as he flips over to be face to face with his older brother. He begins to nervously toy with a thread hanging off of his t-shirt, and Zach gently rubs his arm. "H-how'd you know? Was I that obvious?"

"Well, I sensed something was off because you were acting a little odd. But you were screaming that you were gonna burn because you couldn't jump in the water and that you were still scared of it. It sounded terrible," Zach pauses momentarily as a tear openly slips down Gray's flushed cheek—he is incredibly flustered and not to mention embarrassed. "Hey, don't cry, lil' bro. It's okay, you're safe here. Now, c'mon. Tell me about this dream."

"Well… Oh my gosh, it was horrible, Zach. Horrible," Gray replies blankly, slowly wiping his runny nose on the sleeve of his t-shirt.

"Alright. Take your time, Gray. I'll stay here as long as you need," Zach comments softly as he continues to stroke Gray's back in soothing patterns—circles.

"We were- We were here in your house," Gray stutters apprehensively, his voice involuntarily shaking. "A-and you disappeared, and a s-spark came in your p-place. It started a f-fire, and I could either j-jump in the p-pool and live or b-burn to d-death in the f-flames."

"You burned, didn't you?"

Gray nods slowly, tears once again rolling down his face in uncontrollable streams. "B-but, then I w-woke up. I was a-alive, and you w-were hovering over me. Y-you pushed me off of you w-when I tried t-to hug you a-and told me to g-g-get out… b-because I was- I w-was… b-b-because I w-was s-still s-scared of the w-water."

Zach quickly pulls Gray closer, and his dark brown eyes lock into place with his younger brother's sparkling blue ones. "Gray, none of that is true. I could never be mad at you for something like this. It's not your fault, okay? You're safe now. I'm here; I've got you."

Gray buries his face under Zach's chin, and the 18-year-old waits patiently, silently comforting his brother while he sheds the remaining amount of his tears.

"I'll help you," Zach says quietly as the 13-year-old hesitantly scoots back from his older brother, an inquiring expression visible on his face. "I'll help you get over your fear of water."

"You will?" Gray sniffs faintly, "I mean, thank you, Zach, for not being mad. But I don't know if I can… It's just- it really scares me. A lot. And I tried three days ago. I couldn't stay in there for more than five minutes."

"It's fine. We can start small, Gray," Zach responds almost inaudibly as a long-gated moment of silence falls over the two like a thick fog. "Y'know what Grandpa used to tell me when I was little? It was that time when I slipped on the frozen pond, and I was afraid to go ice skating again. You wouldn't remember it. You were, like, only two years old."

"What did he say?" Gray questions softly, his gaze meeting Zach's.

"He said, 'Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.'," Zach faintly recites the quote from his memory, and then, it hits him.


10 Years Ago

"Zach, I know you're scared of the ice, but it isn't going to hurt you," his grandpa says gently as he grabs onto Zach's hand, pulling him to the ice.

Zach takes a single shaky step on the skates and cries out in shock when his foot loses traction; he is sent, flailing arms and all, to the solid sheet of ice frozen across the pond. "Grandpa, I can't do it. It's too hard."

"Now, Zach. There's something that my grandpa used to tell me when I was a little kid. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time," he pauses momentarily, "And, y'know what?"

"What?" Zach questions earnestly, darkened brown eyes slowly growing wider and wider.

"It worked."


June 30th, 2017

- Present Day -

"Zach! Zach!" Gray exclaims anxiously as he waves his hand in front of Zach's face, snapping him out of the memory he was reliving. "Zach! Are you okay?"

Zach chuckles softly at his little brother and latches tightly onto his hand, placing it down in front of him. "Yeah, I just kinda…"


1 Year Ago

"Zach, honey, you have to eat something. It's been days now," Karen comments softly, her voice laced with concern as she gently places a turkey and cheese sandwich on the table next to Zach.

The 17-year-old pushes it away and continues to stare at his grandpa lying in the hospital bed, endless amounts of tubes and cords tangled around him. "I… I can't lose him, Mom. We already lost Grandma. I just…"

Gray silently walks into the hospital room—distressed at seeing his otherwise low-key older brother so upset—placing a small bag of Honey BBQ flavored Fritos on the wooden surface by the sandwich. "Here, I saw these in the vending machine and I know they're your favorite." He plops down next to Zach when he gets no response and gently leans on his shoulder, his hand squeezing the 17-year-old's forearm.

As Zach is about to break open the bag of chips, the heart monitor placed above their heads begins to beep slowly. It's a shrill ear-splitting ring that rapidly changes to a non-stop signal; the green line falls flat. Nurses rush in, quickly shoving the family away; they have to forcingly drag Zach out into the hallway.

"No! He's gone! He's gone, he's gone, he's gone!" Zach cries miserably as he collapses to the smooth tile floor smack dab in the middle of the walkway. "He's gone…"

Gray and Karen both kneel down next to the sobbing teenager and wrap their arms around him tightly. "Zach, sweetheart, it'll be okay. It'll be okay."

"No, it won't! He's gone! Grandpa's gone!" Zach shouts anxiously, gently leaning his forehead against Gray's as the deep heartache settles within his chest.

"It's okay, Zach. I know he's gone, but we'll be alright," Gray sniffs softly as his baby blue eyes lock intently with Zach's grateful ones.

"Thank you, b-"


June 30th, 2017

- Present Day -

"Zach! You're doing it again! You didn't finish your sentence! You just kinda what?"

Zach shakes his head slowly and gazes over at his brother. "Sorry, I was just spaced out a little bit. I was thinking about… that day. I still can't believe he's gone, Gray."

Gray takes note of the sorrow that fills his older brother's eyes and pulls himself closer, a sign that he understands. "I can't either, Zach. I miss him," he comments quietly, his voice slightly muffled by Zach's deep green t-shirt.

"So do I, Gray, so do I…" he pauses momentarily. "Hey, let's get some more sleep. It's the middle of the night."

"Okay. Thanks for coming when I had my nightmare and thanks for offering to help me fix my water issue," Gray replies softly as Zach squeezes him tighter.

"Of course. G'night, lil' bro," he responds faintly, gently rubbing his back; the material bunches up under his fingers.

"Goodnight, Zach," is the last thing Gray says before his eyes slowly flutter shut, and he, once again, drifts off.

Fun fact (and credit): the quote Zach and Gray's grandpa says in this is from Thomas Edison in real life :D