Just a Little Reminder by Tracie Puckett

half-laughed as if he considered himself the very challenge he spoke of, and then he shook his head. “You know what you want— most of the time —and you’re not afraid to go after it. You’re persistent, determined, and one hell of a great friend. You’ve been through hell, Julie, and no one can blame you for feeling hopeless. But I’ve watched you face some of your biggest fears, and you’ve come out stronger and bolder each time.”
    “You can only call a person courageous when they face those fears by choice, Luke,” I said, swallowing hard. “I didn’t necessarily call up Conan and ask him to hunt me down and hold a gun to my face.”
    “Maybe not,” he said, nodding once. He dropped his hands and took mine, holding them tight between us. “But that wasn’t the first gun a Milton pointed in your direction, Julie. Let me remind you that Hannah was ready to end it all just a few short months ago.”
    “I don’t need reminding—”
    “But you stepped forward and refused to cower, Julie,” he said, and his voice became a little uneasy. “For God’s sake, she could’ve killed you before you had time to register a single thought, and you stood there and tried to reason with her.”
    “That wasn’t courage, Luke. In retrospect, I’d call that stupidity.”
    “Julie.”
    “Luke,” I said, matching his unimpressed tone.
    “Okay,” he said, nodding once. “What about your parents, then?”
    “What about them?”
    “You went to visit their grave, right?”
    “Yeah, but not for months—”
    “But you went,” he said definitely. “You went, and even though the thought of walking into that cemetery, looking at that headstone, and facing the truth terrified you to your core, you didn’t walk away. You went, and you stayed.”
    Okay… so I had to give him that one.
    Visiting my parents’ grave had been one of the hardest things I’d ever done, and no one had forced me to do it. Maybe it was the mere thought of almost losing Luke, or maybe it was just the fact that I needed to be close to them again, but I’d finally gone, and there had been a small part of me that was proud of myself for doing so.
    “And what about Derek, Julie?”
    “What about him?”
    “You can’t honestly look at me and tell me that you never doubted his loyalty,” he said.
    I thought back to—and I’m certain Luke did the same—one of our nights in the cabin. I’d found myself a little unsure about Derek’s loyalty and friendship, and I’d even started to wonder if he’d played some kind of role in his father’s escape. I’d gotten so concerned that I couldn’t sleep, so I turned to Luke for reassurance.
    And he tried his damnedest to give me peace of mind, but I’d still had my doubts.
    “I did, yes. I doubted his loyalty,” I admitted, nodding once. “Given the circumstances… I probably would’ve been an idiot to trust him so blindly.”
    “And despite that doubt, Jules, you still stood by his side,” Luke said. “How many more of these examples do you need? What else do I have to say to convince you that you’re a hell of a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for?”
    I blinked a few times and felt my tears come to surface again.
    “I’ve never been a fan of tough love, Julie,” he said, shaking his head. “But when it comes right down to it, I think that’s what you need. You want to stop having nightmares? Then stop having nightmares.”
    “It’s not that easy—”
    “Like hell it’s not,” he said, but his tone was still gentle. “You’re in control, Julie. You . And I have every reason to believe that you have every tool you need to beat this right—in—here,” he said, tapping a single finger against my head. “It’s not as easy as telling you to stop dwelling on the past and look toward the future. Hell, wouldn’t that be nice?’
    I managed a faint smile.
    “You want to stop having bad dreams, Jules? Great.  Stop doubting yourself, and believe me when I tell