“You drew that?” I asked in amazement as I looked at the painting on the wall of what I was told was my office.

Sam giggled. “Yep, don’t act so shocked.”

“No, no, I mean, I remember you but some things are just taking a little bit longer to come to me, I don’t remember that you’re a fucking artist.”

“Shut up, I’m not that good,” she muttered and I saw her cheeks flush.

I grinned and glanced around the room. “Obviously you are, I mean, shit.”

“Do you remember any of it?” She asked then, giving me a careful smile.

“Not really,” I sighed. “Like I said though, some things are taking a little bit longer to come back to me.”

She gave me a sad smile and widened her eyes. “Well, for both of our sakes I hope you remember soon because there is no way I can run this line by myself. There is a reason I’m just the artist and you handle all that business shit.” Sam said with a laugh.

I laughed and shook my head, once again glancing around the room. “Well shit, I went to college?” I asked, noticing the business degree hanging up behind my desk.

Sam laughed. “Yeah you did, you little smartass. Like I said, I would have no idea where to even begin to handle any of this legal shit.”

I smiled as I looked at all the artwork and products decorating my office. After Sam and I had calmed down from are crying fit she had me come in here, telling me that she needed to know the number for one of our partners so that she could start ordering the shirts for our new line. Apparently Sam and I were the creators of a pretty successful clothing line, simply titled Princess, as Sam had come up with the name after convincing me that we could do this. Sam was responsible for all of the designing and creativity while I was in charge of the business end, ordering all the supplies and organizing events.

A certain picture caught my eye and I walked a little bit closer to it before I grinned. It was a picture of Tony and I and I was wearing one of what Sam said was our most popular shirts and Tony was wearing a shirt with the words Keystreet sprawled across the front. The two of us were looking away from the other and I had my hands on my hips while Tony had his arms crossed as we stood, giving off an almost hostile vibe to the other and when I looked back at Tony’s shirt I suddenly remembered why. Keystreet was the name of Tony’s clothing line that he shared with someone, I couldn’t exactly place a name or face but I knew that it was one of his close friends. The picture was basically highlighting the fact that in a way, we were rivals, being as we both had a clothing line.

“Rori?”

Sam’s voice pulled me back from my thoughts and I turned around to see her smiling at me.
“How much do you remember of him?” she asked quietly, coming closer to me to look at the photo with me.

I sighed. “I don’t know, I mean, I think I’m remembering a lot but it’s complicated. Like, I remember that I know him and that we were together but I don’t remember loving him.” I spoke quietly, glancing over at the open door and wondering where Tony had disappeared to.

“That’s basically what he told me,” she said and then sighed.

“When?” I asked curiously, knowing that the only time they had been alone together since she got here was when he first answered the door.

“He called me last night, I guess after you showed up here,” she explained.

“Oh.” I muttered and pursed my lips before once again glancing at the door. “How is he, uh, you know, handling things?” I whispered.

Sam took in a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. “You want the truth?” she asked hesitantly and when I nodded my head she continued. “He’s hurting a lot more than he’s letting on. That whole week after the accident, when you were at your mom’s, he was a fucking wreck. I could tell immediately when he first saw you again the other day because I came over that morning and he was actually smiling. He’s kind of been avoiding everyone, ever since it happened, he was really only talking to me, though that’s probably because I was being a bitch and wouldn’t leave him alone unless he talked to me.” she finished with a small laugh but it was far from humorous.

I sighed and closed my eyes. “I just wish, ugh, I just want to remember him, I feel so guilty.”

“No, Rori, don’t you dare say that.” She said seriously. “This, what happened, it is not your fault, at all.”

“What did happen?” I asked hesitantly.

Sam sighed. “You don’t remember?”

I thought about it, the last thing I truly remembered was when Tony walked me out to my car when I left the studio. We agreed that he would be home in time for dinner and that we would watch a movie together – because we always did – and then he told me to be careful driving home and to text him when I arrived, something he always told me to do. I explained this to Sam and she nodded her head before she spoke up.

“Yeah, you were driving home and you were sitting at a red light. There was a truck behind you that wasn’t paying attention and he didn’t have enough time to stop and he slammed into you, pushing you into the middle of the intersection. Of course, it was rush hour so there were so many cars, it, uh, fuck Rori it wasn’t pretty, like at all. The fact that you survived that, I mean if you saw your car, holy shit, we all thought you were dead for sure.” She frowned.

“How did you guys find out?” I asked quietly.

A pained look flashed across her face. “We were just leaving the studio – I was there picking up Mike – and Tony was getting anxious, because you still hadn’t texted him and wouldn’t answer your phone when he called you. Finally his phone rang as we were walking to our cars and it was the hospital. They told him to get to the hospital immediately, but wouldn’t say anything else after that. Rori, we had to drive past the accident on the way to the hospital. It was the most terrifying thing that I’ve ever been through, I, I mean, I can’t even imagine what was going through Tony’s mind.”

I sat down on the small couch in the corner of my office and put my head in my hands.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked quietly, taking a seat next to me.

I sighed. “Yeah, I just, fuck man.” I muttered. “It just really fucking sucks, not remembering all of this, my life.” I looked up at her with a sad smile.

She put her arm around me and hugged me close. “Don’t worry Princess, it will all come back to you, the doctor’s seem sure of it. It’s just going to take a little time. Now, I hate to be a bitch but I really need that phone number so I can order these shirts.”

I sighed and nodded my head before I got up and went to my desk. I opened one of the drawers and pulled out a small phone book that had all of my contacts in it. I paused slightly as I saw the front cover – there was a drawing of a turtle in permanent marker and the words Tony loves you! In what I assumed to be Tony’s handwriting – and I smiled, shaking my head before opening up the book and finding the number Sam needed. I grabbed a post it note off my desk and wrote the number down before I handed it to her and I gave her a weird look when I saw her grinning widely at me.

“What?” I questioned with a small laugh.

She continued to grin. “Oh, nothing, but, I mean, you do realize I never told you who’s number I needed right? So that means you remembered the conversation we had before your accident. Tony’s right Princess, you’re remembering a lot more than you realize.”

I couldn’t help but smile, though it faltered as I thought more about it. “I don’t understand it, I mean, sometimes I need to be reminded of things, like how Mike was a total asshole at the store that night but other times, I just need to be somewhere, or with someone and then it just comes to me.”

Sam laughed before a thoughtful look came across her face. “What if we combined the two?”

“Huh?” I muttered, not sure what she meant.

“What if you were reminded of things by someone who has helped you remember a lot already, without forcing photos or memories down your throat?”

“I, uh, I don’t know, I guess that could work, maybe.” I stammered, still not sure if I understood what she was saying.

“Tony!” Sam suddenly yelled, making me jump and he showed up in the doorway a few seconds later, a bag of chips in his hands.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his mouth still full of chips and I couldn’t help but laugh and he gave me a grin when he saw me.

“I think we’ve come up with a good way to help Rori remember some things,” she explained.

“Uh, we have?” I asked, confused and Tony laughed at my confusion.

“Maybe you should have shared it with Rori,” Tony said and Sam just glared at him.

“Ugh, whatever,” she groaned. “Just listen, okay. So I’ve realized that Rori doesn’t always need to be reminded of things but, sometimes, when she is pushed – though not too hard, like her mom was doing – it helps her. So I was thinking, what if tonight, you help her remember what exactly you guys did every night?”

I just looked confused while Tony pursed his lips. “Okay, but what do you mean exactly?”

Sam sighed. “You walk her through your guys nightly routine, I mean, its Star Wars Saturday, which means you fools would make dinner together before you watched that movie on the couch and, I mean, okay I don’t remember exactly what you two did because I both thought you guys were nerds anyway but I know that you had a routine.”

Tony chuckled. “We didn’t do the same thing every Saturday, Sam. And we certainly didn’t it call it Star Wars Saturday.”

I let out a small laugh, even though I did get a few quick flashes of Tony and I curled up on the couch together, watching Star Wars and eating ice cream.

Sam sighed in annoyance. “Ugh, oh my god Tony, you know what I’m trying to say here.”

Tony grinned before he looked over at me and I smiled in return. “Are you okay with this?” he asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice despite his grin.

I bit my lip and nodded. “Yeah, actually I am. I…I want to remember you.” I admitted quietly and then looked down at my feet, blushing.

“Aww, oh my god, it’s like watching a high school couple go on their first date!” Sam squealed, obviously happy with her plan. “Now, I have to go so you call me if you have any questions Princess and Tone, take care of my best friend.”

Sam gave me a quick hug and then grabbed her stuff of the desk and she kissed Tony’s cheek before she made her way out of the room and Tony and I both laughed and bid her farewell. We heard the door slam shut and it was then that I realized that I was now alone in the house again with Tony. I looked over to see him staring at me, a small smile on his lips.

“So, what do you want to do first?” he asked, shoving a chip into his mouth.

I laughed and made my way over to him. “Well, I’m starving so can we make dinner or something?” I asked and then snatched the bag of chips out of his hands before I started making my way down the hall and toward the kitchen.

“Hey!” I heard Tony shout from behind me and I grinned. “That was not nice,” he said, his voice closer to me and before I could even react he wrapped his arms around me and reached around me so that he could grab another handful of chips.

I just laughed and I was thankful he couldn’t see my face right now because I was blushing like mad over the fact that he was so close to me and as I felt his breath on my neck as he laughed, a fit of butterflies erupted in my stomach and the more I thought about it, the harder I blushed because they weren’t just normal butterflies.

They were the nervous butterflies of someone about to spend the night with the man she loves.

Notes

I am so sorry for disappearing guys! I was so busy these past few days and I just had no time to write so I'm really sorry!! But, that being said, I feel like this chapter is all over the place so sorry if it's a little confusing but yeah, next one will be better, promise!! :)