There was a room full of people that I kind of recognized but I did not remember, staring at me, their faces taking on a look of relief that confused the hell out of me. Tony jumped up from the couch, smiling slightly but he still looked like he was in pain, as if he had gotten the worst news in the world. I was standing there like a deer in headlights, having absolutely no clue what was going on. Suddenly, people started talking, saying things at me and I was too shocked to even understand what they were trying to say. It was overwhelming to say the least, I barely knew these people yet they were all here, staring at me like I was the Queen of England or something. So naturally, I did what any normal person in this situation would do.

I ran away.

I turned on my heel and practically sprinted down the hallway, ducking into the closet bedroom I saw which just so happened to be the bedroom Tony and I shared. I quickly closed the door, slamming it loudly as I braced myself against it and tried to catch my breath. My purse had disappeared at some point in all of that and I placed my hands over my face, trying to remind myself that I was going to be okay. I knew these people, they weren’t going to hurt me and they obviously didn’t mean to scare me like they had. I was just overreacting of course but I wasn’t prepared to face all my friends – more than half of whom I only knew the names of – right now.
There was a soft knock on the door that somehow managed to make me jump nearly three feet in the air and whatever attempt I made at calming myself down vanished quickly as my heart nearly started beating out of my chest.

“Rori? Are you alright?”

I recognized the voice as Sam and I immediately understood why they had sent her to talk to me. Sam was still the only person I really remembered. There was still some things about her that were a little hazy and unclear but she was basically all I knew right now. That being said though, I didn’t find any comfort in her soft voice as she knocked on the door again.

“Can I talk to Tony?” I asked through the door and I didn’t hear a response but I assumed she went to go get him.

I needed to talk to Tony. I needed to know why he looked so…heartbroken. Had my doctors called him while I was gone? Maybe I wasn’t progressing as well as everyone thought. Maybe I wouldn’t remember anything else after now. Maybe they found something else wrong with me. Maybe the car accident caused a problem and I could die in a weeks’ time.

There was another knock on the door that once again caused me to nearly jump out of my skin.

“Rori, it’s Tony.”

Without even thinking I turned around and opened the door and immediately grabbed his arm, practically pulling him inside the room before I shut the door again. He was surprised by my action and nearly stumbled over at my sudden outburst but he caught himself and turned toward me as I leaned back against the closed door.

“Why are all these people here? What happened?” I whisper yelled, not wanting other people to hear me though I wasn’t sure why.

Tony scratched the back of his neck and continued to stare at me; somehow he now looked like a deer in the headlights.

“I, uh, I called them all,” he finally said, still staring at me as if he thought I was going to disappear if he took his eyes off of me.

“What? Why?” I asked in a panic. “I’m not ready for this shit! I’m fucking freaking out right now!”

“I-I’m sorry,” he stammered out, chewing his bottom lip.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look like something horrible happened?” I asked, once again noticing how his eyes were slightly puffy, as if he had been crying.

“Where did you go?” he asked, ignoring my question.

“The store; you obviously don’t know how to keep a house stocked with food.” I answered, unsure why he was asking me these things; just tell me the bad news already!

“And your phone?” he asked, once again chewing on his lip.

I sighed. “I left it in the guest bedroom; I forgot to grab it when I left this morning and I guess I just spaced out and was thinking too much because I spent nearly four hours at the store. Tony, please tell me what happened.”

He sighed and let out a nervous chuckle. “Um, when I woke up this morning and you were gone, and when you weren’t answering my phone calls. I thought that, maybe, yesterday was still too much and you panicked again and left me.” he explained in a rush and I had to strain my ears to hear him as he looked away.

I stared at him, letting his words sink in. He thought I left? Why would he think that? I mean, I guess I could understand it, being as I basically disappeared and didn’t tell anyone where I was going, but still. Did he not remember the way I told him that I wanted to remember him? That I wanted to be able to love him and make him happy again? Well, maybe I never told him that last part but I still couldn’t believe he thought I would run away from him. Before I even realized what I was doing I took a step toward him and flung my fist out, punching him in the arm.

“Ow!” he shouted, stumbling backwards and clutching his arm; maybe I hit him too hard. “What was that for?” he asked in a shocked voice, staring at me like I had four heads.

I sighed. “For thinking that I would leave you, you asshole.” I muttered and crossed my arms over my chest. “I told you last night that I wasn’t going anywhere.”

Now he was the one to just stare at me, his eyes and mouth wider than usual. Suddenly, he broke out into another breathtaking grin that made my heart flutter in my chest and he walked back toward me. Something flashed in his eyes – something that I recognized – and he closed the short distance that was between us as he took my head in his hands and crashed his lips down on mine. I stumbled back slightly, not prepared for his sudden show of affection but I reached up and gripped his shirt, balling the fabric up in my palms as I found myself kissing him back, instinct taking over as my our lips seemed to move against the other with a burning passion.

“Rori! Tony’s here!” I heard my mother shout from downstairs and I jumped up from my bed, panicking.

Why was Tony here? Oh my God, what if he wanted to talk about the kiss last night? Maybe he was going to tell me that it was a joke and he didn’t mean it. No, no, no. I groaned and quickly got dressed; throwing on an old hoodie and some shorts before I flung my hair up in a bun and took a deep breath before I made my way out my door and down the stairs.

“Hey,” I muttered, waving weakly at Tony as I saw him standing in the front entrance way.

His head snapped up and a smile formed instantly on his lips before he must have realized something because his smile fell and he looked suddenly nervous. Oh great, this was it, this was the end of our friendship. He was going to tell me that our kiss last night was a mistake and that he no longer wanted to be friends with me. That he wouldn’t be able to see me anymore because he didn’t want to hurt my feelings because he knew that I liked him and that it would be too weird, too awkward.

“Want to go for a walk?” Tony asked me, scratching the back of his neck and pulling me out of my racing thoughts.

“Um, sure,” I answered and headed towards him slipping on my worn out Vans as he pulled open the front door and waited for me on the porch. “Mom, I’m going for a walk with Tony!” I shouted in the house before I closed the door behind me, not waiting for a response.

We started making our usual route to the park as we walked in silence. It was a different kind of silence though. Tony and I could sit in silence for hours, just doing nothing and I had never felt awkward or uncomfortable like I did now. Then again, we had never kissed before either. I noticed that Tony kept stealing glances at me as I chewed the inside of my cheek nervously. I just wish he would say something! He was fiddling with his hands anxiously as we walked, something that confused me because Tony never got anxious around me.

“Are you alright?” I finally asked him. Did something happen at home? Maybe for once he needed an escape instead of me.

He let out a long dragged sigh. “I, um, uh, no, I don’t know.” He stammered out and when I looked over at him I realized he was blushing. What the hell?

“What is it Tone?” I asked, now starting to get anxious myself and I grabbed his arm, pulling us to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk.

He sighed again. “It’s just, look Rori, about last night. I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me I just remember thinking that you looked so beautiful and then I thought about what it would be like to kiss you and I don’t know, I just kind of went for it . The truth is, I’ve liked you for a long time and I, um, yeah, I get it if you don’t want to be friends with me anymore, I mean, I know you don’t feel the same.” He rushed through his explanation, his cheeks red and his gaze trained on the ground.

My mouth fell open and I quickly shut it. I stared at him as he continued to look at the ground, still fiddling with his hands. Tony liked me? He actually liked me back? I felt a smile slowly forming on my face but I quickly dropped it as I realized something else. He thought I didn’t like him back? That I wouldn’t want to be friends with him anymore? Was he plain stupid? I furrowed my eyebrows before I rolled my eyes and balled my fist before I swung my arm out and punched him a good one in the arm.

“Ow!” he muttered, stumbling back and looking at me with pure shock. “What was that for?”

“For thinking I don’t like you back, you asshole!” I muttered and crossed my arms over my chest as I glared at him, though it probably looked more like a pout.

He stared at me before a small, surprised smile formed on his lips and his eyes seemed to sparkle. “You like me?”

I bit my lip before I sighed and rolled my eyes again. “Of course I do; I have for a while too you’re just too dumb to realize it.” I muttered and began walking away from him, trying to hide my blushing cheeks and racing heart with sarcasm.

“Wait,” he called behind me and I began to chew on the inside of my cheek nervously as I turned around as he caught up to me. He had a huge grin on his face and his eyes seemed to gleam once again.

“What?” I asked, hoping my cheeks weren’t still red because they felt like they were on fire to me.

“Well, I was wondering, if maybe now that, well, I would like to kiss you again and I thought that maybe we could uh, if you wanted to I mean,” he continued to ramble on and butterflies erupted in my stomach when I realized where he was trying to take his train wreck of a sentence.

“Tony Perry, are you trying to ask me out?” I asked with a giggle.

“Are you laughing at me?” he asked with a shocked grin, trying to look offended but failing miserably.

“Yes,” I said with another laugh. “But only because you clearly don’t understand that my answer is going to be yes and you’re freaking out. It’s adorable.” I answered with a shrug, once again trying to hide my own nerves by making fun of him.

He gave me his signature breathtaking grin before he sighed and bit his bottom lip. “Alright fine. Aurora Rose Hayes, will you please,” his cheeks started to blush red again and I smiled as he began to rub the back of his neck. “Will you please be my girlfriend? I can’t have you just be my friend anymore.”

“Yes,” I answered, looking down at my feet as I felt my own cheeks burn once again before I looked back up at him.

His was grinning and his eyes were still sparkling, still gleaming at me and I didn’t realize it then but I would soon realize that his eyes would always sparkle like that moments before he would kiss me. Because that’s exactly what he did. He took those few minor steps toward me, closing the distance between us and taking my head in his hands as he leaned down and his lips captured mine.

Tony slowly pulled away but I kept my hold on his shirt, still keeping him close to me. I smiled as I finally opened up my eyes to see him looking down at me, that same sparkle in his eyes. His eyes suddenly widened though and he furrowed his eyebrows.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t,” he started to say but I caught him off.

“It’s okay,” I said as I shook my head. “I don’t mind.” I whispered.

And it was true. I still knew hardly anything about him, okay, maybe I was starting to finally begin to know more about him, but even though he was still more a stranger than an old friend, I realized I liked kissing him. I liked having him near me. He brought this sense of comfort that I craved and ever since I came home with him, I had never felt more safe, more loved. I still had so much to learn, to remember, but all I knew was that I didn’t want it to ever end. I didn’t want to not remember him because I realized that I loved him. I loved Tony Perry. I didn’t know who he was or what we had but I couldn’t wait to get it back.

“So, um, our friends kind of really want to see you,” he said quietly and I finally released my hold on his shirt.

“Oh, right,” I said, my voice a higher octave than normal.

“It will be okay Rori; I’ll be right there next to you, I promise,” he assured me and that was all it took for me to agree.

He grinned as I nodded my head. “Okay, well, let me just go explain to them what happened –“

“That you’re an asshole?” I interrupted with a smirk.

He chuckled. “Yes, that I overreacted,” he said and then rolled his eyes. “And then I’ll come back and get you and you can re-meet all of your friends, or at least, some of them.” He said with a smile.

I sighed. “Okay.”

He placed a sweet kiss on my forehead before he stepped around me and went and opened the door, leaving me alone in our bedroom. I gulped loudly as I started pacing the room, freaking out once again. Was I ready to put myself in this position? What if I freaked out again? All too soon Tony came back and he held his hand out to me and once again, I felt my fears disappear. As long as Tony was by my side, I could get through anything.

Notes

aww aww fluff!