“What do you mean; you don’t know where I live?” I asked Stephen one night. I was in his loft; well, I slept there ever since I came out of the hospital, which is why I desperately wanted to know where I lived in. it just felt kind of awkward.
“Well, you uh… you never really took me to your place, we were always here,” he rubbed the back of his nape.
“Well, okay then. Tomorrow, I’m checking out my old apartment; hopefully, I still live there.” I told him. We were my bedroom- well, Stephen’s bedroom. He wanted me to sleep here, and he insisted that he slept in the couch outside, so I’ll feel comfortable. He nodded in agreement.
“Okay, I’ll come with you,” he told me.
“You will?” I raised an eyebrow
“Yeah,”
“But why?”
“Because… I don’t want anything to happen to you again,” he smiled lightly.
“Well, okay then,” I smiled back.
“Goodnight, Kat,” he whispered before closing the door.
“Goodnight, Steph,” I whispered back, so he probably didn’t hear me, but oh well.
He doesn’t want anything to happen to me again.
~
The next morning, Stephen and I went to my apartment.
I knocked at the door of the apartment owner, as Stephen followed behind me.
“Dear, Katreena! It’s been a long time!” a lady, about 4o years old greeted. Didn’t I just see her yesterday? I looked at Stephen for help.
“Uh, you see, Kat here… kinda lost her memory, and, well, we wanted to know if she still has an apartment here.” He explained.
“Oh, Katreena, dear, I’m sorry, but, no, you moved out and transferred apartments a long time ago!” the woman said. I felt a huge weight added on my shoulders. God, where do I live?!
~
“What now?” I asked Stephen desperately.
“You know, you can always stay as long as you want- until your memory comes back.” He told me.
“And I never gave you my address?”
“uhh, no, not at all”
~
Stephen lay on the couch, fast asleep. I swear he looked so adorable, dammit. It was about 3 in the afternoon, and we’ve had the most unproductive day yet.
I was in one of Stephen’s clothes, since he offered me a tshirt and boxers. I wasn’t tired at all, so I decided to explore the house, maybe try grabbing some memories?
I started with his room, I’ve never really touched anything, but hey, it’s kind of my room, isn’t it? So yeah, I actually took a good look at the pictures framed and placed on top of his drawer. These were pictures of him, and john and the band, and jess.
Why wasn’t I here? Surely, we would have taken atleast one picture? I opened the drawer and I found a camera, it’s a Nikon one, a DSLR, if you put it. I’m a photographer, for crying out loud. I opened the camera gallery to find pictures of them in concerts, parties, and him… but no me.
“Hey,” I turned around and saw a very sleepy Stephen, leaning on the door frame, rubbing his eyes.
“Hey, I uhh-“ I stammered, looking at the camera in my hands.
“I see you’ve found my camera,” he simply said, walking towards me and sitting down on the bed. He patted on the spot beside him for me to sit. I held the camera as I sat beside him.
“Sorry,” I apologized, handing to him the camera, but he just looked at me and shrugged.
“Why are you apologizing?” he asked me.
“Um, aren’t you mad that i- I’m going through your stuff?” I asked, confusion flooding through my face.
“Not at all, I mean, you uh- you used to do it- all the time..” he said, shrugging.
“I did?” I asked. He nodded.
“well, uh, why aren’t there any… pictures of us, I mean like, there are thousands of pictures in here, and you framed a lot of pictures with you and your friends, but… don’t we have any photos?” I asked. His eyes widened, and I could’ve sworn he was panicking.
“You uh- you didn’t want to take photos of us, I don’t know,” he shrugged.
“Really?” I asked, a bit unsure.
“Yeah,” he said “but if you want we could take pictures and stuff” he took the camera from me and suddenly took a stolen picture of us.
“I like it,” he mentioned as we took a look of the photo, it was pretty good, because we were both smiling, and not at the camera. It looked real.
“Me too,” I giggled as we both lay down on the bed, our hair messed up, and Stephen just took a lot of pictures of us. We practically spent the whole afternoon doing that.
With that, like, I felt something… a spark? I don’t know, but it feels like, well, I’m starting to feel comfortable with him; he makes me feel safe.
(Stephen)
I panicked a bit when she asked for photos of us.
What was I supposed to do?!
She fell asleep as we were camwhoring on the bed. I looked at her, this- this fragile, beautiful girl with the big brown eyes, sleeping soundly on my chest. This was supposed to be awkward, but, to tell you the truth, it’s not. It feels good. I mindlessly started stroking her hair gently, hoping not to wake her up. I looked at the photos we just took; it wasn’t fake. None of these were fake; those were genuine smiles planted on our faces. She’s actually fun to be with.
Truth be told, I want her to have her memory back, I want all of this to end, because, I know, that Katreena, this girl, doesn’t deserve getting hurt.
From the back of my pocket, I slowly took out a printed photo. It was a photo of the night Kat and I met for real; at the bar. It was a fun picture, we had our arms on each other and we were smiling like we were the best of friends. This was real. I sighed and gently hid it in one of my Ryan Adams records, hoping that she wouldn’t find it.
Someday, I’m gonna tell her the truth, but hopefully, she’s adjusting well.
YOU ARE READING
Stay Awake (Stephen Gomez)
FanfictionI met a girl after the concert, hung out with her, gotten her a bit too drunk, tried to take her home because I felt responsible for her, and got her in a car crash. Just great, Stephen.
