Jenny pulled away from her, embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Shane assured her.

Jenny sniffled. “Did I wake you?”

Shane shook her head. “No, no, I was already up.”

“What time is it?”
Shane wiped the tears from her face. “It’s pretty late, or early, depending on how you look at it.”

“Oh… ” Jenny replied, not really sure what to say.
“Are you okay?” Shane asked, deeply concerned by what she’d just walked in on.

Jenny looked down at her hands. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”
Shane was sure that Jenny was lying, but she knew that prying wouldn’t help.
“Do you think you could fall back asleep?” She asked.

Jenny nodded, her eyes still downcast.

“Okay.” Shane reached over and grabbed the blanket that she’d dropped off the floor.

Jenny laid down again.

Shane covered her with the blanket. “I’m right down the hall if you
need me.” She kissed Jenny on the forehead and turned to leave.
“Shane?” Jenny’s voice was small, like that of a child.

Shane turned around.

“Do you… do you think you could stay with me?” Jenny asked. “Just until I fall asleep?”

Shane slowly nodded. “Sure.”

Jenny sat up, making room for her on the couch.

Shane sat down. She slouched into the corner and used the coffee table as a foot rest. “Come here,” she said, raising an arm.

Jenny scooted over and curled up next to her.
“I’ve had the same dream for the past three nights,” she said after a few minutes had passed.
“Because of that guy at the bar?” Shane asked, hoping that she hadn’t gone too far with her question.
Jenny was quiet for a moment. It was true that the nightmares had
started because of him. He had been the spark that started the fire,
but in this dream, on this night, she hadn’t seen his face. Someone
else had been there, someone from her childhood. A part of her wanted
to talk about it. To tell someone, just so she could get it out of her
head, but the part of her that felt scared and ashamed outweighed the
part that was willing to reveal this secret of her past. “Yeah,” she
finally said, her voice just a whisper.

Shane felt a surge of anger at the thought of that low life retaining
some form of power over her friend. Despite what she had done, what
she’d had Rex and Joey do, Jenny was still suffering.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Shane asked, pushing her anger aside.