On The Line (Ashton Irwin)

Chapter 26- Now

Chapter 26- Now

-Madison's POV-

"So, if I won't remember you, will you remember me?" I asked Milo as we sat cross-legged on the glass for, across from each other.

He nodded. "I remember every person I've ever been a guardian to on the line. They never remember me, but I always remember them. So yes, Maddy, I'll remember you."

"I guess if somehow I do have memories of you I'll just think they're memories of Luke, huh?" I asked.

He nodded. "Probably. But the memories will have been altered, so you'll just remember having fun, not being on the line. And you'll just remember a face, not a name, so yes, it'll have been of Luke. And it'll be recollections from something you'd done in the past, not while in the coma. Does that make sense?"

"Maybe," I said.

"Basically, if you ever remember that time that we played cards, you'll just think it was you and Luke playing awhile ago, instead of you and I playing cards while you were in a coma. Does it make sense now?" he asked.

I nodded then. "Yeah, makes sense. Thanks for, uh, clarifying."

"Anytime," he said.

"So, if you'll remember me, then I want to give you some good memories," I said.

"You wanna what?" he asked.

"You know, give you something fun to remember me by. And we have to do it now," I insisted.

"Why now?" he asked.

"Because, it's like you said. I'm almost ready to return downstairs. I'm healing. I don't know when that's going to be, I don't know when I'll be ready to go. How will I know when I'm ready to go?" I asked.

"You'll just know," he said.

"But what does that mean?" I kept asking.

"Well, it's sort of like an 'it's time' moment. I'm not quite sure how it works, I've never experienced it." Milo explained.

"Alright," I said. "So anyways, I don't know when that'll be. So, we've gotta make these memories as soon as possible."

"You really want to do this, don't you?" Milo asked, standing up and offering me a hand to pull me up.

"Yes, I really do." I said. "So, what can we do here?"

"Anything," he said.

"Alright, then..." I trailed off, thinking. "We can always play music and laser tag, right?"

"Of course," he said, snapping his fingers, and then a jukebox appeared along with two players' equipment for laser tag.

"What kind of songs are on there?" I asked, slipping on the laser vest.

"Anything you want," he said. "You're boyfriend's in a band, isn't he?"

"Yeah," I said, grabbing the gun. "Five Seconds of Summer,"

"Then play that. I wanna hear them," he said.

"Okay," I said, walking over to the jukebox and searching the band's name, before hitting the button for it to play Unpredictable. "Luke's the lead singer, so it's his voice you'll be hearing."

"Whoa," he said, "Can I sing like that?"

I shrugged. "Have you ever tried?"

"Sometimes I hum," he said, attempting to sing along with the song, but hearing it go horribly off-key.

"So maybe you didn't get Luke's singing talent," I said.

"Can we just get this game started?" Milo asked.

"Of course," I nodded, aiming my gun at his jacket and shooting, causing it to start lighting up before I ran. "There's nothing to hide under!" I yelled.

"I can fix that!" he said, and little obstacles appeared everywhere.

"This is awesome!" I said.  "Makeshift laser tag!"

"I'll definitely remember this," Milo said.

"Score! That's my objective!" I said as my vest started buzzing and lighting up. "You shot me!"

"Yes, dear Maddy, you have been shot," Milo agreed, holding his gun up in victory.

****

"So, what all do you remember of your life?" I asked Milo as the laser tag arena disappeared from sight.

"Well, like I told you, I was a soldier. Before I went off to war, I loved a beautiful girl. Her name was Eileen. We were engaged before I'd gone off to the war I'd died in." he said, his expression turning a bit sad as he recalled the memories.

"I'm sorry," I said, "Did you- Did you ever try looking for her up here?"

He nodded. "All the time. Shortly after I'd died, and I'd become a guardian, I spent years seeing if there was a point in her life sending her to the line or not. She never came here, just had gone straight on through to Heaven. I tried looking for her there too, but it's a big place, you know? So I could never find her."

"You really loved her, didn't you?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Of course I loved her. She was the love of my life, and I lost her."

Looking downstairs, I caught a glimpse of the love of my life. Ashton. Sitting there, the other boys surrounding us, and then- wait, was that One Direction? What were they doing in Sydney?

"Milo, we have to go downstairs," I said.

"What?" he asked, "Maddy, we can't,"

"Please, I just want to know why they're down there." I said. "Please, just for two minutes so I can hear them talk. I won't go by the mirror, I promise."

He thought about it for a moment. "Stay by me the whole time," he said, extending a hand reluctantly, and I took it, an eager smile crossing my face.

"Thank you," I said. "Thank you, thank you, thank you,"

The familiar bright flash blinded me momentarily, and then when I started blinking a couple times, here we were. Downstairs, in my hospital room, surrounded by nine boys talking.

"It's still so awesome you guys are here in Sydney," Cal said, looking around the room.

"Why are they here?" I muttered.

"Just passing through, but we couldn't resist stopping," Niall said. "What can I say? I love Sydney,"

"You love the Australian band that lives in Sydney," Harry teased him, gesturing around to the boys.

"And thanks again for coming to see her," Ashton said, his grip on my hand tightening a bit. "You have no clue how much it means to me."

"It's alright, mate," Liam said. "She's a nice girl, of course we'd come see her."

"So that's why they're here," I said, looking at Milo. "They were just passing through, and decided to stay in Sydney for a day,"

"Now that you know, is it alright if we go back upstairs?" Milo asked. "You know, since we really shouldn't have gone in the first place?"

"Yeah," I said. "Let's go back to the line."

This story has 30 chapters and an epilogue, so we're almost finished!