The fall was frightening, but quick. Daniel didn't even have time to scream because when he opened his mouth to do so he fell head over heels into some kind of lake. Or he imagined it was a lake, everything around him was very dark, so he couldn't be sure. All he knew was that he was in the water, and he needed to get out.

" Wow! Cold! " He took a deep breath when he reached the surface and began to move his arms and legs, trying not to sink again.

Looking around, he realized he was in a very dark place, only a dim light coming from the sky. The light source came from a huge moon and a few stars that seemed to dance in the sky.

Weird, with a moon that size, you'd expect a little more light.

The sound of screams in the distance caught his attention and he swam towards the noise. He found the shore of the lake and came out of the water shaking wildly.

"Oooon...fff...fire!" He stammered, but his powers didn't work.

With no better idea about what to do, he decided to move on. He walked towards the screams, cautiously, to find out what was causing all the fuzz. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his wet jacket and quickened his pace. Soon he began to discern some words. It looked like some kind of boy's fight.

"Kick his ass! Yeah!" Someone yelled and laughed.

" The guy isn't even man enough to fight back! " Another joined the incentive for violence.

Daniel saw three boys, no older than thirteen each, surrounding one another, who was lying in fetal position on the floor. Suddenly, every muscle in his body froze, but not because he was wet. He knew who the young man lying on the ground was, he knew that scene very well because that was something that was part of his life.

A part of his life he wanted to forget.

" Come on, Daniel! Get up! Prove Denis is wrong, show us that you have a man inside you! " The leader of the trio teased and kicked him again. "I can do this all day, how long are you going to make me wait?"

" How about I give you a hand with all this waiting? What do you think about fighting me, Lucas? " A boy with red hair said, approaching the confusion.

Please, not this... not again!

Lucas turned around to give the redhead an answer, but fell to the ground after taking a beautiful right hook to the face. The other two boys backed away from the newcomer, they were clearly afraid of him. Which was funny since the redhead wasn't even that much taller than them and was even a little skinny. He also appeared to be the same age as his opponents, but something about the way his green eyes studied each of them made it clear that it wouldn't be a good idea to provoke him. The ripped-knee jeans and leather jacket gave him a bad boy vibe that shouted, "Want to mess with me? I wouldn't advise" look.

" Easy there, Jonas. " One of the boys said. "We were just messing around with Daniel.

" Go home, assholes. " Jonas replied. " The game is over."

Distracted, he didn't notice when Lucas got up and attacked him. The two rolled around on the floor, exchanging punches, until Jonas finally managed to get on top. Still standing where he was, Daniel could only look at the other version of himself that was still on the floor, without even having the courage to help his boyfriend.

I just needed to have the courage. If I had done something to...

" I warned you to stop messing with Daniel! " Jonas shouted, throwing a series of punches at Lucas' face.

" Stop! " One of the friends of the boy who was being beaten begged.

Daniel tried to take a step forward. He needed to do something, anything. Otherwise, everything would end the same way. That was the moment when everything went wrong.

The beating that Jonas gave that boy earned him a lawsuit that made his parents decide to send him to a boarding school. Their relationship, until then a secret, became the gossip of the neighborhood and when his parents found out... Daniel still remembered their look full of disappointment.

He knew he'd have to deal with prejudice and rejection, but finding those things in the people who'd given him life had been too much. He still felt the pain in his heart, if it weren't for his Uncle Peter he would still be living with his parents, having to deal with those horrible looks and the pain they caused in his soul. Unlike his parents, Peter accepted him as he was and never judged him. Living with her uncle in Cleston was still something very new, but the change of scenery had certainly helped overcome the pain.

Daniel knew that things weren't easy for Jonas either, but like the coward that he was, he couldn't muster up the courage to go say goodbye to him before being shipped off to boarding school. He sure hates me now. And I can't blame him, why shouldn't he hate me?

The memories of all the pain and suffering he went through last year made him wake up to the moment he was living now. He needed to take action and change things. His right foot managed to move, but then something changed in the scene. His other version, the one he knew would lie on the ground until the worst had happened, did something unexpected and got to his feet. Only, instead of helping Jonas, he looked in his direction.

Daniel stared at himself not knowing what to say and suddenly all the other boys stopped moving as if they were the paused screen of a movie. His clone studied him, his eyes were pitch black. It was like he was possessed by some supernatural entity, like people possessed by demons on the adventure series he watched on TV.

" Do you remember that? Or have you already put everything behind you in your new life? " The black-eyed clone asked and approached with slow steps, closing his fists that began to emanate flames. " How long did it take you to forget the only person who truly loved you?"

" I never forgot Jonas..." Daniel managed to say, taking two steps back; "I just... think he..."

" Do you think he what? How can you know what Jonas thinks if you didn't even bother to say goodbye to him?!"

Furious, the bizarre version of him fired a fire bolt that hit him square in the chest. Daniel dropped to the ground and rolled over to douse the flames on his shirt. He heard the other's footsteps approaching, but he didn't have the courage to look in his direction.

"Typical, always a coward! I should know, I'm the truest part of you, the one you've tried to pretend doesn't exist." Black-eyed Daniel said, scorn dripping free from his voice.

Daniel bit back a cry of pain as he felt his hair being pulled. The other crouched beside him and forced him to face him.

" Come on, tell me the words that you repeat like an idiot inside your little head. 'What would Jonas do?', is that right?"

The mocking laugh of his copy awakened something inside Daniel. He was never the type of person to let anger get the better of him. He always tried to keep a cool head and think through the things he was going to do. But his evil twin wasn't just laughing at him, he was insulting what he loved most about Jonas. If there was anything the world could learn from Jonas Kelly, it was courage.

He'd learned to be brave with Jonas, hadn't he? Or was the black-eyed version of him right, and he was just repeating those words to try and hide the truth about his cowardice?

" Shut up! " Daniel got up and punched his opponent in the face.

His hand passed through it as if it were just an illusion, but when the other kicked him in the belly, the blow hurt enough to show that he was real enough. Daniel lost his breath and bend over, then he felt a twinge of pain in his right cheek and lost his balance, falling to his knees on the floor.

"So what would Jonas do? I'm pretty sure getting his but kicked wouldn't be an option for him." The black-eyed boy chuckled. "But that's something you do very well. Not even the magic of hope can change the coward in you, we both know that."

Another gutter made Daniel flinch, and he wanted very much to just disappear. He couldn't deal with it, it wasn't just the kicks and punches, but the words of his freaky double were touching his soul like hot needles piercing the skin.

"Dani, get up." Jonas's voice sounded in his mind, and it made him forget his pain. "You're not a coward, I know that, and I think deep down you know it too. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise, not even if that someone it's yourself!"

Still sensing his desperation, the bizarre version of him placed a foot on top of his back and forced him to lie on the floor. Daniel ignored him and thought about what Jonas had told him. How could he think he wasn't a coward when he didn't even have the courage to say goodbye to him?

"Stop living in the past, man" Jonas spoke again in his mind. "I've never lied to you before, and I don't intend to start now. I can see your courage and I need you to see it too. Come on, repeat after me: I'm not a coward!"

Daniel wanted to know how his boyfriend was talking inside his mind, but the weight of the foot on his back reminded him that this was not the best time for such questions. So he decided to just accept things as they were and do as Jonah asked.

I'm not a coward.

As soon as he said those words, he realized they weren't a lie.

I'm not a coward! Would a coward have fought a giant snow monster to save Thomas?

Daniel didn't know why he remembered that moment, but it made all the difference. Had he thought of Jonas in that desperate time? Yes, he had. However, it wasn't the memory of his boyfriend that made him rush to save the basketball player's life. That had been him, his decision and his alone.

"Are you really going to be beaten quietly? Come on, Daniel. Tell me your magic words! Pretend you're someone you're not!" His clone mocked him again, stomping his back harder.

That was it.

"Do you want to hear my magic words?" He asked, lifting his head, so he could face his enemy.

For the first time, he looked deep into his double's black eyes and screamed.

"ON FIRE!"

Fire exploded around him and hurled his opponent away. Daniel didn't give him a chance to get up, he flew and shot a powerful blast of flames that consumed his evil version until there was nothing left. When he landed, he found himself in the company of only one person.

Jonas.

His boyfriend smiled and looked at him with pride.

" I always knew that there was something special about you. " He said and then raised an eyebrow. "Hold on, is that my jacket?"

Daniel was embarrassed and felt like his cheeks were burning. He was so grateful that Thomas and Mikaela were somewhere far away, or else he would never be able to laugh at them again when they pretended they didn't like each other.

"You forgot it at home and I couldn't return it before your parents sent you to boarding school. Do you want it back?" He replied and moved to take off a jacket.

"Nah." Jonas retorted, laughing. "It looks better on you, consider it a gift."

"To be a gift, you would have to be here for real."

Jonas approached him and then kissed him. Even caught off guard, Daniel returned the gesture, feeling his heart race like he always did when he kissed the boy. Illusory Jonas' lips looked very identical to the real version. He sure is as good a kisser as the real thing.

" And who said I'm an illusion? " The redhead said, interrupting the kiss. "I don't know how it happened, but one moment I was sleeping in a dark and very cold place and next thing I know, I ended up here. I just remember feeling that you needed me and I just wanted to be by your side."

"That's not possible, we're miles apart."

" Said the guy who flies and shoots fire from his hand."

Daniel couldn't stand it and laughed at the comment. Making fun of an impossible situation was very much something Jonas would do, and it had convinced him that he really was face to face with his boyfriend.

"Jonas, I have so much to explain to you. You won't believe it, but..."

Placing a finger to his lips, he cut him off.

" I'm feeling something take me back to where I was. I guess you're going to have to explain everything to me later because I'm not leaving without making one thing very clear. I don't hate you, I'm not angry, I haven't stopped, and I won't stop to love you. Whatever you're doing, I feel it's important, so go out there and do what you need to do. Call me later, I miss you and would love to hear your voice from time to time. We are entitled to receive calls at boarding school, you know? Only on Friday, but that's better than nothing."

Tears streamed down Daniel's face, but he smiled and nodded.

"Right now there's a crazy sorceress trying to freeze the world, and somehow I've ended up recruited into the team that's going to put an end to her plans. You can bet that as soon as I'm done saving the world, the first thing I'm going to do is look for you ."

Jonas smiled and then disappeared. Daniel was left alone, but he didn't feel bad about it. The taste of her boyfriend's lips was still a pleasant memory in his mouth. Putting his hands in his jacket pockets, he began to walk aimlessly. He didn't know where he was going, but somewhere Thomas and Mikaela must be waiting for him, and it wouldn't be a good idea to leave them alone for too long.

"I hope those two aren't killing each other," he said to himself and started his search for his friends.

This chapter was one of the hardest I wrote in this book, but it contains so much important stuff happening with Daniel and it finally introduces us to Jonas!What do you think of our favorite rocker's boyfriend?Thanks for reading and see you next week!

Before I forget, here I leave an art that I ordered especially for this moment! This amazing art is from Medusa Artes, the same person who did my cover. Follow her on instagram: @ artesmedusa