Closed Doors [#Wattys2016]

The First Date (Part Two)

I was so undeserving. And yet, you were so relentless. I pushed-you pulled. I wept-you embraced. I bled-you repaired. I faltered-you shushed. I stopped-you smiled. I was a disaster - the worst of its kind. And yet, you still had the audacity to let me know that I was beautiful.

-Unknown

It's The Wizard of Oz.

Memories from my childhood come flooding back in an instant; ones I've spent years purposefully trying to repress. I haven't watched this film since before my father was killed in the mines, and the shock of seeing it again so suddenly and unexpectedly brings tears to my eyes. Not sad tears, exactly, but tears from remembering happier times-times when I was innocent and carefree; times when I knew I was loved.

Times when life was completely different, and so was I.

I glance at Reed in surprise and confusion. How in the world did he know this was my favorite movie, or that it'd mean so much for me to see it again? Even Jena doesn't know. In fact, she's never even seen it, so she certainly couldn't have told him.

"I haven't watched this since I was a kid," I tell him breathlessly, searching his face for an answer or a clue. "It... it used to be my favorite."

Technically, it still is.

"I know," he replies with a wink.

I shake my head slightly, still not understanding at all. I really haven't even thought of the movie in years, so why would he? Why, with so many other newer movies to choose from, would he pick this one in particular?

"How, though? I'm pretty sure that I never told you, and I know for a fact that Jena hasn't."

He appears both shy and pleased by my reaction. A small, boyish smile comes to his lips as he delicately runs his hand down the length of my arm and back up again.

"I guessed. I mean, it wasn't all too hard to figure out. Besides the play in third grade, you dressed as Dorothy for Halloween three years in a row when we were in elementary school." He chuckles softly at this, and I can't help the grin that takes over my face. It was so long ago, I'm bewildered and touched that he even noticed, let alone remembered after all this time.

He's right, though. I did dress as Dorothy in kindergarten, first, and second grade for Halloween, and I also had the lead part as Dorothy in a third grade play. I find it sort of astounding that he'd preserved something so simple and minute in his mind about me; something that even I had basically forgotten about myself until this very moment. He had no reason at all to remember these tiny details about me, so why did he? Why would he?

I try to keep my focus on the movie, but it's nearly impossible. I have so many questions, and yet I have no idea what to say or where to start.

"I can't believe you remember," I say after a moment, my voice quiet and awed.

"I also remember that you used to wear your hair in two braids almost every day because you said you wanted to look like her." He leans over and places a lingering kiss on my flushed cheek; I can feel the curve of his smile as he does so. When he moves away, my skin tingles where his warm lips had touched it. "And, if you remember, I told you in third grade, during rehearsal, that you were much prettier. I wasn't lying, either."

"I don't remember you telling me that. That's really sweet, though. I'm sure I thought it was very nice at the time."

I wish I could remember, but my life is divided into two separate parts - before Smith and after Smith. I try my best not to think of the times before... I make a point of it, to forget everything. It hurts too much to remember the old me and my old life. I know I can never go back to it. I can never be that happy ever again, so it's not worth dwelling on.