I Forgot // Olli Määttä

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"Do you want to see my friends again?" Olli questions, poking his head into the living room. I nod, a small smile forming as I think of Sidney. 

"Sure!" I say a little too excitedly. He frowns at me, raising an eyebrow while presumably texting my response. 

"Is dinner then a movie too much?" I shake my head, one eye still on the tv. "I don't want you to do things you don't want to...are you sure?" I nod, and he comes and sits next to me on the couch. I scoot away like I usually do, and I think it puts him down even more. I can't help the fact that he's practically a stranger. 

"I'll be fine," I assure him, looking down at my feet. 

"I just want to keep you safe." Understandable and adorable. 

"We'll try it tonight, and if I can't handle it, I won't go again until I'm better." Olli nods, instinctively leaning in for a kiss. I shy away, and he yet again remembers why we're even having this conversation. He looks down at my legs, but unlike when other people stare, I don't have a sudden desire to hide them. My shorts expose my once-perfectly tanned limbs, now covered in scars, scratches, bruises and scrapes. A mess, really. 

Olli doesn't seem to think so, smiling softly as his eyes go between my face and my injuries. "You are so strong, Rosa...I wish I was like you." Him? Wanting to be like me?

"If only I was more like you...then I would be worthy of everything you have to offer," Olli whispers, flattering me.

"I wish I was like you, I wish I didn't reject you just cause I don't remember anything about you..." I trail off, thinking. "Tell me stories of what we used to do, Olli, I...I want to remember," I continue confidently, hope in my eyes. He sighs, opening his mouth when the phone rings. 

I frown sadly, looking at my feet and missing the pout he sends my way as he goes back to the kitchen. 

***

"This is going to be a calm and uninterrupted dinner," Sidney says in a strict fatherly tone, sending a glare at Beau in particular. "I don't want any funny business, since--"

"Which means, 'only Geno and I can fuck after the movie'," Beau interrupts, to the amusement of the others. Sid just rolls his eyes, and I send him a look of remorse. 

"I'm so sorry they're immature," I say, but he chuckles and sets a hand on my arm. I don't move mine, and I hear a huff from my other side. 

"It's not your fault, please don't say you're sorry all the time." I blush in embarrassment, trying to move my hands to my lap. Sidney holds onto my arm, however, keeping it on the table under his as he adds, "It just makes me feel bad for you, that you feel like you're the problem. Such a beautiful girl could never be the source of the world's problems, never mind be the problem. Never."

"Rosa, can I tell you something?" Olli asks softly, and I turn to him with a questioning look. "I want-wanted to tell you a story a-about us." My smile widens, and I nod, turning my whole body to face him. "I remember a sunny day in December, and we had no game that day. We went to the zoo, and you love all the cats." 

His accent is so incredibly adorable, I'm finding it hard to focus on his story. It's not really broken English, but some of the words sound different, and every now and then he'll mess up a tense. But do I care? Of course not, especially when it's causing my heart to melt.

"You said it was an amazing day, but then we got ice cream even though it was cold, and then I took you to play laser tag, and even though you had never played, you beat me." Did I mention his run-on sentences are even cuter? "After that, I took you home and I made dinner, and even though it was really bad you loved it. And then we watched funny Christmas movies, and I remember you kiss me a lot because I talked too much..." At that we both turn red, and luckily, the waiters again have perfect timing. 

"You having fun with the Finn?" Sid teases, but I shake my head as I take a sip of my soda. "How's the drink?" I raise an eyebrow. 

"Um...it's good?"

"Oh, it's not alcoholic, I forgot!" He laughs. "You guys are 20!" I pout, roughly cutting the steak and stabbing it with a fork. "What?"

"I know I'm young..."

"You are young," he repeats in a dramatic tone. "You and Olli...meant for each other since time began, one for the other, and no one must come between them." I frown at his speech, unsure of how I should react. Good thing I have better things to do...like eat.