How to Forget

who else is emotional

Later, in my room, Nat shares another piece of his spectacular dinner table talk that he unfortunately had to save for another occasion. "I was gonna make a joke about how the solyanka was almost as salty as you, but I didn't want your parents to think we were up to some illicit dick sucking activities and had the guts to discuss it at the dinner table."

I gasp. "He's considerate, too."

He tosses me a breath mint from the pack in his pocket then takes one for himself to reverse the damning effects of his solyanka. "Bitch, shut the fuck up. I saved your ass." Nat returns to his task of turning on and plugging in my music speaker.

I use it all the time to feel the music better, as it's loud and has strobe lights that move to the beat of the music being played. We've decided to take turns showing each other some of our favorite songs. Nat likes rock, indie, and 80s pop, and I'm not exactly sure what I like. I've had to rediscover my music taste since I forgot it all, but I haven't made much progress, as I've been busy with other things. I've just picked up random songs here and there that I enjoy no matter what the genre.

The typing sound from Nat's phone clicks through the speaker during his search for a song to play. He presses play then grins mischievously.

I have no idea what to expect until the tune of an 80s hit emerges from the speaker. Nat starts dancing in the sort of way that would make the dancer's friend wish they were never born, wish they could escape from this high school dance they're attending.

I cover my face with my hands to escape partially.

"Dance with me!" he requests.

I scoff. "There is no way in hell I would ever dance with you, especially not to this song."

As if I had given consent instead of a declination, Nat grabs my hands and forces me to dance with him in the informal fashion that one would never see on a ballroom dance floor but rather at any other casual occasion. He's mouthing the words passionately while he shifts my arms back and forth in intervals, whereas I'm still mostly unmoving and bashful.

"Wake me up before you go-go, 'cause I'm not planning on going solo," Nat sings, eyebrows clenched together as if it requires a lot of effort from him to belt out the song so enthusiastically. He sees that I'm still holding my original stance on dancing with him, which brings a teasing frown out of him. "This is like a real disco party, Link. You should enjoy it."

"You've had enough," I tell him as I pick up his phone and press pause.

Nat scowls but makes no verbal objection, only flopping down on my bed to wait for me to pick a song for my turn.

I was originally going to pick an energetic song, but now I know how Nat will react if there's anything he can dance wildly to. I scroll through my mental list of songs and discard anything that matches the aforementioned criteria.

Eventually, I select the perfect song to relax to, and climb onto the bed with Nat, who is leaning on the wall. I lie down and place my head in his lap like a makeshift pillow.

The calm melody envelopes us in warmth and prompts the lights to sway softly around my room, sometimes swishing over our faces in various colors. We are content with just sitting here, Nat's hands sifting through the strands of my hair, breathing deeply with each other. Nothing else matters but the rhythm of us and the rhythm of the music. There is no world for us beyond the confines of this dimly lit room, no possibility of there being one, either.

"This is pleasant," Nat murmurs.

"Mmm," I hum in acknowledgement.

"You're pleasant."

I close my eyes and lean into his hand, while his palm cups the side of my face. I then feel the minimal pressure of gentle lips on my own, perhaps even gentler than the music. And just like that, my focus shifts from the atmosphere to Nat. He's all I need in my amnesiac reality. We flow together as smoothly as the music and the lights, as perfectly as puzzle pieces do. My hand rests on his heart, where I sense the pounding of a drum in time with the tune, and all I can think is one thing: I hope I never forget him.

~~~~~

A/N: this made me so emotional ashgslhsldjgs

~Dakrying