Snowflakes Fall and So Did I

~CHAPTER 70~

~Elsa~

"Jack?" I say as I step out onto the porch.

Jack jumps, his hand going over his heart as he says: "Jesus Christ!"

"I'm sorry," I say, holding back a laugh. "I didn't mean to frighten you. Are you alright?"

Jack chuckles as he adjusts himself on the porch swing. "Besides the heart attack you just gave me, I'm doing okay."

"What are you doing out here?" I ask him as I gently shut the door behind me and lean against it. I wanted to sit next to him, but I didn't want to disturb his space. I especially didn't want to make things awkward.

"I couldn't sleep," he answers, "so I came out here to think and...to talk to the moon."

"Talk to the moon?" I repeat, looking up at the sky where the bright white orb shone in the sky.

"Sorry," he rubs his neck nervously, or rather...embarrassed? "I do that sometimes when my thoughts keep me awake. Did I never...tell you that?"

I shake my head. "No, but," I swallow down my hurt, "I'm sure you had your reasons. Either that or I just forgot."

"Maybe I stopped doing it at 18," Jack suggests, shrugging. "After all, the last I remember is being 14. I'm sure I probably stopped at some point before I met you. But...I have this weird feeling that...we met some time before. You feel so familiar, but that's probably because you were my girlfriend before...all of this."

A spark of hope fills me at the possibility that it's his own mind trying to remember. "We have actually. Met before I mean. Like way before we even started dating. We were ten years old at first, but you knew me before I knew you, which I know sounds confusing. Would you like me to tell you? If not, that's okay. I don't want to overwhelm you."

He shakes his head. "No, I don't mind. Here, sit." He scooches over, giving me space to sit next to him.

My heart jolts and I hesitate before moving. Do I really want to torture myself again being so close to him? If I refuse, what if he gets sad?

That thought right there is what pushed me to move. I don't want him to be sad or feel like I don't want to talk to him. God, that's all I've wanted for weeks. And maybe this moment might be the moment that causes everything to go back to normal again. Like at Eret's party. We had talked and grew closer.

Maybe that's all that needs to be done again; is for us to simply talk. Maybe it'll help his memories resurface and if not...maybe we can make new memories together?

When I sat down, I cleared my throat and wiped my sweaty hands on my pajama pants. "Okay, so...we were ten years old. We were at my aunt and uncle's annual Christmas Eve party and..."

I go on to tell him how he snuck into the coat closet and covered himself from head to toe so he could talk to me without making me uncomfortable. I told him how he came the next year and the year after that, but never said anything to me. He watched me from a distance those last two times. And how that last year was when his father died saving my sister, when he helped me off the lake.

"Of course!" He had interrupted, astonished. "I dreamt of that night sometime last week. And when I woke up, I immediately thought of you. I thought it was so strange how much you looked like that girl. I thought there was no way you were her. It's just—"

"Unbelievable, right?" I chuckle, the hope in my chest expanding. He dreamt of a memory! Surely that's progress?

"I thought the same thing when we reunited back in August. I knew coming back to Burgess risked the chance of me running into you again, but I also thought that maybe that chance was low. I thought you had either moved somewhere else or had hopefully forgotten all about me. I was so anxious coming here, and then when we met...well, I wasn't very subtle about not wanting anything to do with you."