“Okay, July 3rd?”

My eyes widened as I looked at Sam and tried to find something, anything in my mess of a mind that would help me to figure out what it was that happened on July 3rd.

“Um, um, uh, his birthday!” I exclaimed, cringing because I already knew it was the wrong answer.

“No!” Sam groaned, flailing her arms. “His birthday is in February you boob!”

“Damn it,” I muttered and flopped my body further down into the couch.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I had been at Sam’s since this morning and it was now close to three in the afternoon. I had woken up alone – which was something I was actually okay with because I didn’t exactly want to talk about that kiss that Tony and I shared last night – to see that Tony had left me a note on his pillow, telling me that he had a photo shoot with Jaxin for their new line and he would be home sometime before dinner. I had called Sam up then, asking her to pick me up so we could spend the day trying to help me remember something, anything, unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be working.

“What happened on July 3rd?” I questioned with a sigh, sitting back up in the couch and looking over at her.

She gave me a sad smile. “Tony proposed to you.”

I nodded. “Right. Of course he did.” I muttered angrily.

I was frustrated that I couldn’t remember anything; I had thought finally coming home would help me but so far, I was no closer to remembering Tony than I was when I had been at my mother’s – and she never even mentioned him to me!

“Don’t worry Princess, it will –“

“Come back to me in time, yeah, yeah. You know, I’m getting real fucking tired of hearing that.” I scowled at the ground.

“Alright, well, I think that is as good a sign as any to call this a day.” She said, closing the photo album that had been in her lap for the past half hour.

I sighed. “I’m sorry Sam.”

“Don’t be Rori, I can’t even imagine what you’re going through; I’d be pretty pissed too. Besides, I’m used to your bitchiness.” She smiled sweetly at me and I rolled my eyes as the two of us got up from the couch.

“Did you want me to pick something up to eat for you on the way home?” Sam asked, grabbing her purse and car keys.

“Uh, no, Tony said he would be home in time for dinner so I’m assuming that means we will probably eat together.” I said, chewing the inside of my cheek nervously as I thought about seeing Tony again, the kiss replaying in my head.

“Aww, you’re blushing,” Sam giggled, grabbing my hand and beginning to lead me toward the door.

“Shut up,” I grumbled as we stepped outside and made our way to her car.

She laughed again and then we got in the car and she flicked on the radio, something that helped eased my nerves a bit. Sam only lived about fifteen minutes away from the house I shared with Tony but I don’t know why it seemed to be taking forever to get there. A part of me was hoping that Tony wasn’t home yet but at the same time, another part of me really wanted to see him. I couldn’t understand these confusing emotions swirling around in my head.

One minute, Tony was a stranger to me who I felt awkward and uncomfortable around but then the next minute I wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his arms and kissing him. The doctors said my loss of memory wasn’t a normal case – though not like any type of memory loss is normal – because I still had most of my memory intact, like knowing where I grew up or what the name of the President was. It was only the people in my life that I seemed to forget, oh and my own life for that matter. I could tell you exactly where to find a bag of chips at the local market but ask me when my birthday was and things started to get a little hazy.

It was like I couldn’t remember the things that made me smile, the things that brought me happiness or in general, the things that made me me. I could tell that these people I knew – though I didn’t remember much of them – helped shape me into the person I was today. I could tell Tony had a huge impact on my life as well, I mean hell, it wasn’t hard to figure out that I probably wouldn’t even be alive right now if it wasn’t for him. As I thought about all of this, about how my memory was being a huge bitch right now, I couldn’t help but glance down at my phone with a sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked, glancing over at me.

“You mean besides the obvious?” I muttered halfheartedly before I smiled, my lame attempt at a joke. “Actually I don’t know, I was just wondering why my mom hasn’t called to check in on me. I mean, I figured she would be interested in finding out if I remembered anything.” I shrugged.

Sam scoffed. “I don’t see why she would start to care now.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Sam sighed. “Look Rori, I hate to throw your mom under the bus, okay, well not really, I just don’t want to paint this picture of her in your head but you clearly don’t remember everything about her.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, shaking my head in confusion.

“Rori, this past week, after you woke up in the hospital, that was the first time you and your mom have seen, let alone, spoken to each other in almost a year. After you told her you were engaged to Tony and planning on marrying him, she basically disowned you, telling you she never wanted to see you again.”

“Why would she do that?” I asked shocked. Sam was obviously right; I had no recollection of that at all about my Mother.

Sam sighed again. “In all honesty, Tony could probably tell you better than I ever could. Maybe you could ask him?” she said though it came out sounding more like a question.

“Oh, okay,” I said with a sigh, my mind once again racing.

Before either of us could say anything else Sam pulled into my empty driveway and we hugged and I got out. Sam waited until I was up to the door, using the key Tony had given me, to unlock the door and head inside before she pulled back out of the driveway and took off. I closed the door with a sigh as I kicked off my shoes. Just when I thought some things were starting to make sense in my life I found out something that completely changed everything. I just couldn’t understand why my mom could hate Tony so much; it didn’t make any sense to me. Even barely knowing him, I could tell he was a nice guy, always sweet and quiet.

I sighed again and made my way upstairs, deciding a hot shower could maybe calm my spinning mind. I went into the bedroom and pulled out some clothes before I headed toward the bathroom. The door was closed but I didn’t give it much thought, even though I should have because I opened the door and immediately gasped, seeing Tony just stepping out of the shower, completely naked.

“Oh my god!” I said and quickly turned around. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even know you were home!” I muttered quickly, my cheeks on fire.

Tony chuckled behind me. “It’s alright but I don’t know why you’re acting so shocked, you’ve seen me naked plenty of times before.”

“Yeah well I don’t remember that!” I practically squeaked out, biting my lip hard.

“You want to take another look? Maybe it will help jog your memory?” he asked in a teasing tone.

“That’s alright,” I said, my cheeks still burning.

He laughed. “Aw come on, I promise I’m not that awful looking.”

“I noticed,” I blurted out without thinking and I don’t know how but my face still managed to get hotter.

He laughed again. “Last chance, you sure you don’t want a sneak peek?” he continued to tease me.

“Tony stop,” I said, now giggling as I shook my head back and forth.

“You know, I’m actually kind of upset you don’t remember seeing me naked, I mean, how could someone forget this?” he asked suggestively and I heard him come closer to me.

“Oh my god,” I laughed, covering my face with my hands.

“I’m only playing Rori,” Tony said with a small laugh. “But you can turn around now, I’m dressed, well, sort of.”

“I’ll wait til you leave,” I said with another laugh, not wanting to look at him again because I couldn’t get his naked, wet body out of my mind. Holy shit this was going to cause me problems.

“I always thought you were adorable when you blushed like that,” Tony said, now right behind me and I jumped, not expecting him to be that close.

“Stop!” I groaned with a small laugh.

“What’s wrong?” he teased, poking my sides and making me jump.

“Tony!” I yelped and practically jumped into the wall.

“What?” he asked innocently, his breathy laugh hitting my neck. “You know, I don’t know if you remember this but you are very ticklish.” He said then, his voice giving off a taunting tone.

It wasn’t hard to figure out what was coming next but I still jumped in surprise again as he poked me in my sides again. This time his hands didn’t leave my body right away though, he kept them there, flicking his fingers back and forth along my ribs and sides and I couldn’t help the laughs as he practically pushed me up against the wall, mercilessly tickling me. My embarrassment faded quickly, being replaced by giggles and tears of laughter as Tony laughed behind me and I was certain I could remember his hands having done this to me before, rough but so gentle in their touches it caused shivers to run down my spine.

“Tony, stop!” I gasped out in between giggles and when he made no attempt of stopping I took a step back, pushing myself into him, hoping to make him stumble back but he instead wrapped his arms around me and pulled me even closer.

“Never!” he chuckled, nuzzling his face into my neck and his stubble seemed to tickle me more than his hands ever could and I felt my face flush again, though this time for a whole new reason.

“Babe! Stop!” I laughed and I somehow managed to turn myself around but Tony suddenly stopped moving and he stumbled forward at my movement, causing him to push me up against the wall.

He pulled his head away, looking down at me and we were so close I could feel his breath on my face, I could see his dark brown eyes staring into mine. My breathing slowed but I was still panting slightly, my chest pushed up against his own as he continued to lean against me.

“You just called me babe,” he whispered, his hands travelling down my sides and stopping at my hips.

“I know,” I said quietly, my eyes widening slightly when I realized that he was right.

He gave me a small smile, his eyes seeming to sparkle before he leaned down and pressed his lips to my forehead.

“Enjoy your shower,” he said softly as he pulled away and then he left the bathroom, giving me one last smile before he shut the door and left me there, speechless.

I had to take a few breaths to calm myself. Why did I just call him babe? I didn’t mean it, it just slipped out. All I could think about in that moment was that I remembered the way his hands felt as he ran them up and down my sides, I remembered the way his breath would hit my neck as he hugged me from behind and pulled me close. I remembered what it felt like to be held by him. I closed my eyes, trying to make sense of what just happened but I came up with nothing. Despite all those memories, I still couldn’t say that I remembered him. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there were certain things I did remember about him but there wasn’t enough for me to admit that I remembered him.

I sighed and quickly got in the shower, once again hoping that the warm water and hot steam could help calm the thoughts that were running around in my head. All too soon I was finished and my mind was still racing but the water was turning cold, probably since Tony had just taken a shower before me so I got out and grabbed a towel, drying myself off before I wrapped it around me and headed for the door. I opened the door slowly, not sure if Tony would still be in the room and when I saw that it was empty I headed out and toward the bed. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw that there was now a hoodie on top of all my clothes – one that was far too big to be mine – and I realized Tony must have put it there for me.

I got dressed in the jean shorts and tank top I had picked out before I slipped on the hoodie and I smiled again as the scent of Tony seemed to engulf me. I was just pulling the hoodie down when there was a knock at the door and I grabbed the towel off the bed and started drying my hair.

“You can come in,” I called out.

“Hey,” Tony said as he came into the room, smiling when he saw that I was wearing his hoodie.

“Hi,” I said quietly and couldn’t help but blush because even though he was fully dressed right now, I couldn’t help but think about what he looked like under those clothes.

“I’m sorry for earlier, if I made you uncomfortable,” he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s okay,” I said with a shrug, hoping he wouldn’t pick up on the fact that I had actually enjoyed it but something about the way he smiled at me made me think he did.

“So, uh, I was wondering,” he started to say then, his tone taking on a nervous note. “Can I take you out on a date tonight?” he said in a rush and I almost didn’t understand what he said.

“A date?” I repeated after a moment of silence surrounded us.

“Yeah, I mean, if you want to. I was just thinking that maybe I could take you to some of the places we used to go to all the time, maybe it would help you remember some stuff, I mean, only if you want to though. If you don’t want to I get it, I mean, I don’t want to push you or make you feel uncomfortable or –“

“Tony!” I said with a small laugh, interrupting his babbling. “I would like that.” I admitted and then bit my lip before I glanced up at him.

He grinned, his face taking on an almost childlike appearance with how happy he looked then and my heart stuttered in my chest.

“Okay, well, we can leave whenever you want, whenever you’re ready,” he said, his smile echoing in his voice.

I couldn’t help but smile as well even though my stomach was filled with butterflies. “Okay.”

He smiled once more before he left the room, closing the door behind him and I took in a deep breath before I plopped down on the bed, the smile never leaving my face. I would admit, I was scared, of how things were going to go on this "date" but at the same time, I was ready. I was ready to remember him, I wanted to love him. I didn't want Tony to be a stranger anymore and I wanted my life back.

Notes

argh! idk how I feel about this chapter but I'm excited for them to go on thier "date" are you guys???? ;)