𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 | redlyn oneshots

who lives who dies who tells your story

Plot: After an accident, Ashlyn's lost her memory and has no remembrance of anyone or anything, besides her name. Big Red's always been there by her side and is there to hold her hand and keep her company. It's been a routine habit for them both in the past couple of years, but Ashlyn knows what's about to happen. You have no control over who lives, who dies, who tells your story.

The accident happened two years ago.

I'm not the best driver in the world, I can tell you that beforehand. But do I blame myself for this accident? Yes.

Here's how it started. Ashlyn and I were driving down the I-70 when this giant tow truck just collided with our car. Neither of us died, we were just bloody. I remember that day although I wish I could forget about it. Then again, Ashlyn's suffered more than me. After the accident, we both landed in the hospital for a solid week. Relatives came in all day and gave us flowers. EJ thought Ashlyn was dead. She wasn't.  

I woke up first after three hours. I still remembered that gory scene and vowed that I'd never drive again. Ash woke up four days later, and when I asked her how she was, all she said was, "Who are you?"

At first, I thought it was a sick prank. "Dude, I'm Big Red. You know, your boyfriend? My parents own Salt Lake Slices? I'm best friends with Ricky Bowen?"

"Who's he?" she asked, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"You should know who Ricky is," I said worriedly, pacing the length of the room. "Uhh...do you remember who EJ Caswell is?"

"Who's that?" she asked again.

Oh, God. Oh no. After we crashed that car, she must've fallen into a deep coma and woke up with amnesia. "Alright, what's my name?"

"I forgot."

This was a Finding Dory case.
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So...it's been two years.

I've tried my best to be supportive. I come over every day after school, after my shift at the pizza place. I made a deck of flashcards for her with everyone's faces on it and ten facts about them that I cut out from an old copy of my junior yearbook. It's helped her with remembering. After taking some advice from Ricky, Nini, Seb, and Carlos, who are all avid romance movie watchers, if you haven't noticed, I decided to write all the memories of Ashlyn's and mine into a notebook, so I could read it to her someday. So far, I haven't shared it with anyone yet. I'm not crazy about publishing it, as Kourtney suggested.

Her amnesia has gotten worse, I'm afraid to say. She spends most of her time in the hospital now, but I still visit her every day. Ashlyn sleeps much more than usual, and sometimes she loses a week. When she wakes up, it's like every other time. She can't remember who anyone is or how to do things she used to be able to do, such as eating. It's taken a toll on her health, but I promised that everyone would be here for her when she left the hospital.

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Christmas

"Merry Christmas, Ashy," I whispered as I handed her the box. "I tried wrapping this."

In the friend group, the person with the best wrapping skills has got to be Ricky. He's the craftiest person around since he took that up while Nini was away. He originally planned to arrange a giant bouquet and serenade her when she came back with a grand love speech, but it ended up becoming a dressing room make-out session. Who da thought?

She yawned. "Who are you?"

I sighed. "Biggie. Or, that's your nickname for me. I'm not that big. It's better than Clifford, though."