Home is Where You are (Ally and Stevie)

3. Two breakups and a concert (Ally said)

"Torey!" I screamed of excitement. If I could just run to her, I would--but the wires and casts would not allow me to. "I am so relieved to see you."

"Hey there, Ally," Torey said. She looked beautiful as ever. "How are you feeling now?" She gave me a hug and kissed my forehead.

"Much better because you are here," I said, not letting go of her hand. With her other hand, she held my face. It was comforting as her blue eyes looked through me.

"Ehem," Danny blurted. "Someone's in here too."

"Hi Danny," Torey acknowledged. I had to let go of her hand as they embraced. "How long has it been?"

"Long enough," Danny responded. "It is nice to see you, Torey."

"You two are topping the charts for the past weeks," Torey said. She is a DJ at Wisconsin.

"So you probably know more of my songs than I do," I said. I can joke about my amnesia when Mom was not around.

"Most of your fans do, actually," Torey added.

"Wow I do have fans now," I responded.

"I forgot to tell you about that, Ally," Danny said. "They keep on sending you get-well-soon cards and gifts at Pab's. I could bring some tomorrow."

"Thanks, Danny," I said.

"Anyway, I will leave you two now. You need your alone time to catch up," Danny said. "Torey, let's grab lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure! I will see you!" Torey answered, giving Danny another hug.

Danny left. Suddenly, there was a mood shift.

"I do not feel good about this," I told Torey. "Can we at least pretend how we were the last time I remember it?"

"Ally, we cannot do that," Torey responded. "It would be unfair to a lot of people--but mostly to you."

"Can you explain that last bit? I know we broke up some months ago but we can try again you know."

"When I received a call from Stevie telling me you were in an accident, I badly wanted to see you—in whatever condition you may be in. I told Stevie that I will catch the earliest flight. But she said everything has been arranged. I just had to show up at the airport. She told me to calm down because you have already woken up. She told me you have amnesia and that your last memory was we were still together. She asked me to go with your flow, to explore the possibility of getting back together. The last thing she said to me was to be fair to you—at least this time."

"I do not understand."

"So far what do you remember about us?"

"My last memory was you are coming over for my birthday. I may not recall your visit but I know we had a great time. It was difficult with you living on the other side of the country. But to have the chance to be with you is always worth the wait."

"We broke up on your birthday, Ally. I broke up with you on your birthday. I decided for us. We were both exhausted and you would not admit it because you were optimistic that we can pull it through. I really thought you were my game changer--that for you I could shift my life to LA and settle here."

"But clearly I was not. You have to be yourself, the free wandering Torey."

"You have to know this. This is me being fair to you."

"Don't you want to try again? We could do better this time."

"It is easier to just run back to the past because this is what you remember--this is what is familiar. When we broke, there were times that I wanted to go back but I do not want to hurt you again. You deserve better."

"So this is how it feels when a person is re-breaking up with you. How do I move on from here?"

"Your future is brighter, Ally. It is okay to be scared because there's a bunch of people who will make sure that you will see it through. Just take your time."

"Thanks for being honest, Torey."

"And you have Stevie. I haven't met her but the way she wanted to protect you from all of this mess is something."

"What do you mean?"

"I figured you must be so important to her that she went through all the trouble of bringing me here. From the way she talked, I could sense she is hurting but she was brave."

"Well she was my girlfriend. She broke up with me earlier too. She does not want to force our relationship to me."

"I am sorry to hear that. From these small instances, I could see why you liked her."

"I am starting to see it too. But I could not dictate this." I pointed to my chest.

"Let me correct you. Your mind does not let you remember what is really in your heart."

"It must be a world record being dumped twice on the same day." I said, changing the topic and conceding to Torey's conclusion.

Maybe Stevie and I like each other a lot. Maybe we even love each other deeply. But Stevie deserves better too and it could not be me at the moment. It will be unfair if she would wait until I remember her. Worst is if I would not remember at all.

"Come on! Just look forward to your concert in two weeks. I will stay in LA for that. Jelly and Day are flying in too."

"What concert?"

Torey showed me a concert poster. I am having a concert in two weeks.

*******

Author's Note:

Gosh, it was so hard to bounce back from the last chapter. Please have patience. Thank you! <3