When Everything Disappears (Completed)

Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

"Brooklyn!" The voice barely registered in the back of my mind as I sat quivering on the couch.

I flinched when a hand came to rest on my shoulder. Quite shakily, I looked up at my mum and Louis who were now on either side of me. They both had worried expressions. Tears formed in my eyes, tumbling over my cheeks and dripping onto my shirt. The memory of the accident was now fresh in my mind. The crunching of the metal. The shattering glass.

Niall's voice screaming out through the phone.

"Honey, tell us what's wrong. Please." Mum begged.

"Accident." I mumbled out in a broken voice.

The room was silent as my family tried to figure out what that meant. I heard the front door open and my eyes wandered upward. The second I saw who it was, I jumped off the couch and ran with my arms outstretched towards him. The tears were flowing fast as I clung to him. His hand went immediately to my lower back.

"Shh, it's okay, Brook. It's okay. What happened?" Niall said quietly near my ear.

"I'm so sorry you had to hear it. You had to hear all of it. I'm so sorry."

"What... Di-did you remember?" Niall's voice was laced with confusion and hint of anticipation. 

"It was horrible." I choked out before backing away from Niall. I sat back down on the couch, staring intently at my hands, trying to get the tears to stop.

"Is that all you remember?" Louis asked, hopefulness quite clear. I nodded my head. "That's okay, shh. You're okay now. We're all okay."

"Why don't you go up and lay down?" Mum suggested and I decided to take her advice.

Not that I would be able to sleep. I knew for a fact that the images of the accident wouldn't be leaving my mind anytime soon.

~'~'~

"Do you need anything?" Mum asked quietly four hours later as we walked down the stairs. 

I shook my head adamantly. "Can we just not talk about it?"

"Of course. Mums the word." She smiled as we reached the bottom.

A gorgeous blonde and a beautiful brunette were standing in the living room. The blonde had her arm around Louis' waist and it looked like she was making fun of him. The brunette was familiar, I met her while in Chicago. Harry was also standing there, both hands wrapped around her waist and his chin was resting on her shoulder. They all looked like they were in easy conversation, along with Niall.

"Brook! Good to see you again!" The brunette shrugged Harry off her and came over and embraced me with a giant smile.

"Hi, Rosie." I smiled at her.

Louis grabbed the blonde and practically dragged her to me, his grin threatening to break his face at any moment. "Brook, this is my girlfriend, Juliet."

"Yes, as in Romeo and Juliet. My parents loved Shakespeare. Hi, Brook." Juliet said nicely. It must be awkward for her since we've already met.

"Hi, it's really nice to meet you. Again, I guess." I replied hesitantly. 

"Okay, we need girl time. Lou, go get us some lemonade. Harry, Niall, you go help." Juliet instructed as she hooked arms with Rosie and I. 

Louis grumbled a bit under his breath but headed towards the kitchen, Niall and Harry following behind like punished puppies.

"Wow, you got them whipped." I joked lightly while we settled on the couches.

"They all pretty much do our bidding if we ask. We're spoiled and we love it." Rosie winked. I laughed. 

I could tell I was definitely going to like these girls.

~'~'~

"How was dinner with everyone last night?" Josh inquired as we sipped on our chocolate fraps.

"Eh, it was okay. Kind of the reason I called you." My hands fiddled with the cup, refusing to look up at Josh.

"Want to talk about it? You don't have to if you don't want, but if you need to rant to someone, I'll listen." 

"It's just, last night at dinner, they would all joke around. One second it would be perfect but then someone would accidentally mention something that has happened in the last three years. The entire table would go quiet before someone jumped in and changed the subject. They'd all look at me too. I'm not going to blow up if you mention something that has happened since I lost my memory." I babbled out, only stopping to take a breath. 

"They don't really know how to act around you, they don't want you to hide because you don't know everything." Josh pointed out.

"I guess. Did I tell you I had a memory yesterday?" His face turned into one of happiness as he shook his head. "It was the accident. Out of all the memories from the last three years I could have gotten, it was the accident." I laughed bitterly. "It was the worst. My memory starts the second I settle into the taxi and it stops when I blacked out. It bothers me more than I thought it would. The last memory I had, it felt more like I was watching TV. This seemed so freaking real."

"It did happen. You can't treat it like it watching TV. It's probably really hard to think about, I know I wouldn't be able to handle it.. Especially with the grace you do. Just remember, no one expects you to be perfect about this." Josh consoled me, as his hand reached across the table to pick mine up. He smiled his brilliant smile and I felt a bit better.

"But Josh.. What if I never remember? I'm so scared that my memory will just stop there. I'll remember Harry drawing on Louis with a sharpie and I'll remember the car accident that changed my life. I don't think I can go on just knowing those two memories. But what if it never comes back? I never remember anything? I can't go through life with a three year gap.."

"We'll just hope for the best. You're a tough girl, I know you can get through this and I'm never leaving. I'll always be a phone call away, alright?" His eyes bore into mine.

I felt little butterflies in my stomach as I nodded. "I know you are."