The Few Things Made of Concrete [DISCONTINUED AND REWRITTEN]

Concrete Slab Three, Fragment One; The Calm Before The Inevitable Storm

Three cheers for double updates! *dances*

New Jersey, 2018

When I wake up again I am not in a hospital, but tangled up in lar blankets. There's a hand on my cheek and a voice next to me and I open my eyes to see a familiar face close to mine.

"Ayako, calm down! It was just a dream." Ritsuko speaks quietly, his voice low and calming. My body goes slack in his arms and he holds me to his chest, running a hand through my hair and down my back. He whispers quietly to me, pressing his lips to my forehead every so often. My hands move on their own accord, clutching his shirt and holding on to it tightly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks, and I shake my head.

I'd never seen this side of Ritsuko, not to mention shared a bed with him. I could feel his heart beating heavy in his chest, and calm washed over me.

"Aya, I have to get ready for work soon, love."

I move back a bit, seeing a small smile on his lips as our eyes lock. His hair is a mess, sticking up in different directions and hanging over his eyes. I smiled at him.

Love.

He slowly untangled himself from me, smacking the alarm clock as it began to make noise.

5:45 AM

He turned to me again, just for a moment as he flashed me a smile, before heading off to the bathroom. I watched after him, the bed beside me getting colder and colder with each passing second. I turn slowly onto my side in a daze, looking at my reflection in the mirror near the far corner of the room. My hair was as much of a mess as Ritsuko's was, sticking straight up from my place in the bed. I watched as it swayed a bit in the breeze the ceiling fan was creating, the motion perfect for distracting me from the new world I had found myself in.

Was this really the same Ritsuko that I had all of these old memories of? Or was he different? He didn't seem all that different than the Ritsuko in the new flood of memories that were invading my mind, but what if he really is different? The questions plagued me, but one was most prominent throughout my thinking.

How was all of this happening?

None of it felt like dream. You don't feel pain in your dreams. I'd choked to death on my own vomit and now I was here in a bedroom with Ritsuko. Does he remember the Ayako that died before I got here? I doubt it. And what about Shig? They were together before, what about that Ritsuko? Was Morishige even here?

"Ayako?" A voice interrupted my thoughts and I turn to see Ritsuko standing in the doorway. He watched me sit up with tentative eyes. I gave him a tired smile in an attempt to ease his obvious worry.

"Are you okay? You were staring off into space for a long while there."

I watch him for a moment before I respond.. His eyes are searching my face, darting from one eye to the other. His fingers are tightly gripping the door frame, and a towel is clinging to his hips. I hold out a hand to him, motioning for him to come and join me again on the bed. He walks over slowly sitting next to me and holding my hand in his and resting his head on my shoulder.

Neither of us said anything for a long while. But eventually he spoke.

"I'm worried about you, Aya."

Once his words were spoken, drifting around in the cool air, he nustled his face into the small of my neck. He moved to hold me closer, and I let him,. It was a comfortable feeling.

"I know you are." I said in a small voice, "I'm worried about me, too."

There was a long silence after that. We simply laid back onto the bed again, Ritsuko curling himself around me. His hair was still wet, cold, little drops of water falling onto my chest and neck from time to time. His lips pressed against my jaw and I smiled a bit. He smiled back, kissing my cheek. I ran my free hand through his hair, turning a bit to face him.

"You should get ready." I whisper, and he nods. He kisses my cheek again before getting up, dropping the towel onto the ground before going to the closet. I can feel my cheeks turn a bright red before I bury my face into pillows and I hear Ritsuko chuckle under his breath.

"Are you still coming to the dinner party tonight?" He asks.

I keep my face in the pillow, a memory of him asking my bouncing around in my brain. I shrug.

"C'mon," He whines, and I smile a bit, "Erica and Shig will be there, and we haven't seen them in months. You've gotta come. Plus you can finally meet Louise."

"Louise?"

"Don't you remember? She's the girl I went to Alister with a few years back. She's head of one of our partnering companies."

"Right, right." I turn my head and look at him and he's already buttoning up his shirt, a untied tie hanging from his collar. His nimble fingers do the buttons up quickly and as he reached the highest one he looks up to meet my gaze.

"Think about it, okay? It's tonight at seven. I'll even come and pick you up if you want me to."

I nod and he smiled again, tying the tie and walking over to me. He leans over, pressing his lips to my forehead. The gesture is small, but it makes millions of tiny, foreign to me butterflies erupt in my chest. As he pulls back a bit a run my fingers over his jaw before I can stop myself. He smiles wide at me, littering my face in small kisses.

Before he can continue any longer a phone is ringing across the room and he stands quickly, shooting me an apologetic look before answering. He and the person on the phone don't talk for long, but it's long enough for me to understand that it must be his boss. He smiles apologetically at me again as he ends the phone call, sliding the phone into his pocket.

"Work?" I ask, and he nods.

"They want me to come in early all this week, so I really need to go, I guess."

I wave my hand at him and he quickly puts on his shoes and leaves the room. He runs back in a moment later, though, kissing me quickly and collecting his coat.

A few minutes later i can hear the front door close and I roll over onto my stomach, burying my face into the pillows again and slowly drift back into a land of dreams.

*Louise totes isn't louromesburg I would never nOPE

Love, Levi