I can do pain. That’s the easy part of life. It’s everything else, happiness, laughter, love, that’s fucking complicated.

He gazes at the people in the truck. "Are you driving back with them? Smiling, I nod. "Yes." "With a bunch of dudes?" "Yes." "Is that safe?" My smile expands into a face consuming grin. " I am safer in that truck than I am anywhere else.

But no matter what happens, I spoke up, made a voice for myself, freed from the haunting memories that have owned me for the last six years. I found my courage.