Even Heroes Have Scars (Revised)

[1] Intro

Note: This was originally written by me on Wattpad already, but I am revising it and posting it again as a separate version. The other version has the same name. Both versions have similar plot lines, but this version is more sophisticated. You don't have to read the other version to read this version. There will be significant changes between the other version and this one.

I am attempting to keep this as similar and realistic to Demi's life at the time as possible. Demi has come out as non-binary in real life, using they/them pronouns, but up until the chronological point in the story where Demi discovers this about themselves, Demi's pronouns will remain as she/her unless one of my readers asks me to change that.

At the beginning of each chapter, I will include a link to the song the chapter is named after to serve as a soundtrack to the chapter!

"Intro" - Chapter Title based on Demi Lovato's "Intro" track from their seventh album, Dancing With The Devil... The Art of Starting Over.

Every chapter will be named after Demi Lovato songs or lyrics.

Ansley's P.O.V.

I awoke to my brother, Jacob, shaking me as I screamed bloody murder. It wasn't until a few seconds after waking up that I realized why I had been screaming. Just a few moments before, I'd been having a dream. Well, it was a nightmare, really, about my father, Dawson, striking my back with a belt and kicking my stomach with the pointed toe of his shoe.

"Ansley! Anna, wake up!" Jacob yelled as he turned on the lamp and swayed me. "It was just a dream."

My arms wrapped around him as he perched on my bed, and I held him closely. "I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't mean to wake you up." I checked the clock on the nightstand and saw that it was nearly four in the morning. "You should go back to sleep before you have to get up for school."

He sighed and relaxed on the bed, the two of us lying beside each other. "I know. I'm just nervous, so it's hard to sleep. Then I heard you, and I came running. I didn't want you to be stuck in that nightmare thinking it was real."

It felt real. Honestly, it was real. It was a memory from about two years ago. I had made a mistake. A truly terrible one, though I couldn't even remember what it was – maybe forgetting to do dishes or layering a line of dialogue in a nice coat of attitude. Whatever it was, it was enough for Dawson to beat the fuck out of me.

"Don't worry about me. And don't be nervous about tomorrow. It's just school," I pointed out encouragingly.

Jacob was twelve and about to start seventh grade. We used to live on one side of Dallas, but after Dawson died, we moved over to this side, so we wouldn't have to think about him as much. Well, that and the fact that I couldn't afford an apartment for us on that side of town. Cost of living was rising, but my pay sure wasn't. Anyway, moving meant Jacob had to be zoned for a different school than his initial middle school.

"Yeah, but it's the first day of school since the accident, and it's a new school. It's a lot of new people, so I want to make a good impression. The only person I know is Drew." He pouted out his bottom lip as if it would prevent me from forcing him to go get educated.

About four months ago, Dawson was driving Jacob to a store when they got in a car accident. It was a T-bone on the drivers' side, killing my father instantly and putting my younger brother in the hospital in critical condition. After fighting for his life for a week, Jacob began to recover. There had been a bad injury to his heart and lungs from the seatbelt breaking some ribs, and he had a traumatic brain injury that made him relearn a few skills, such as walking. He'd spent two months in a wheelchair before he was finally able to get up on his feet on his own. His medical bills used up most of our inherited money from my parents.