The Amnesiac

Love, Love, Love, Love

Lots of emotion (and emotionally charged smut) in this one! You know I love that angsty angst

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"I told her. Why... did I tell her?" You mutter as you slam the car door shut. Something metallic rattles violently from the force.

The sinking, brooding sensation the conversation with the girls had managed to stow away rises from the back of your mind again.

Your hands grip the leather-bound wheel tightly as you focus. Deeper breaths begin to emerge from you, slowing your thoughts to a manageable pace.

The girls...

The intimate conversation you'd had just an hour earlier comes back to you. Sydney's playful wake-up call, Celine's adorable smile, Poki's caring banter, and Tina's surprise appearance.

Before you realize it, you're smiling. You snap out of it as soon as the sound of wind scraping against your windshield alerts you, but a small sense of peace remains.

That's it. I need to spend more time with them. I might not know all the answers yet, but that doesn't matter as long as I have them. For however much longer I have left.

Driven with intent, you pull your car out of the parking lot and speed off onto the road.

A woman watches your car turn into a pale black dot through the office window, staring longingly with her nose nearly squished up to the window.

The receptionist eyes her for a moment, then sighs.

...

I hope Brooke and Janet are still home. I need to talk to them about what happened.

You slowly walk up the porch steps, dreading the inevitable conversation, and reluctantly raise your hand to press the doorbell. With your finger poised just inches away from the button, you hesitate as a small squirrel leaps into the corner of your vision.

You turn your head to see the brown-bodied animal with streaks of white in its fluffy tail lower its head to sniff the dirt. It prances a few inches toward you and sniffs again.

The small furry being doesn't seem to mind your still presence. It runs across the porch, its tail tracing smoothly behind it like an afterimage.

The squirrel lifts its head. Its dark, beady eyes reveal nothing, but you can tell that it senses you.

Its tiny paws hang loosely in front of it. It sniffs the air, cocks its head, then skips away in an instant, disappearing into a bush. The twigs part as it molds its body to pass through.

You stare at the spot where it once stood.

I wonder if you'll ever know just what a huge world you're in, bud.

Silence was usually something you only noticed when you didn't want to. But between and behind the faint racket of the breeze and the occasional scuffle of people or animals in the distance, the silence feels warm.

I wish everything wasn't so complicated...

And for just a moment, your wish comes true. You sit in the silence, letting the sense of freedom wash over you.

"Are you gonna come inside or what?!?"

You whip your head back. A sliver of a face peers out through the crack in the door.