The Road To Remembering

Comfort

The doctors say I'm not well enough to travel yet. They're concerned that something major like that might stress me out and trigger something bad in my recovery, or  something like that. I don't really listen to them anymore.

Now, this wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the little fact that mom and dad had apparently planned a surprise vacation about a year back. It took months of planning and cost a lot of money. They had planned to take the whole family plus one across Washington state and California. 

But, Thanks to the dumb doctors, I can't go.

Mom and dad wanted to cancel everything and stay behind for me. I Insisted that they had to go anyways. I Even made a PowerPoint for all the reasons they should go. Pictures, graphs, data, the whole thing. In my opinion, the most compelling piece I had as an argument was the whole 'waste of a lot money' thing. 

The Good news is, I have the house to myself, and I don't have the family breathing down my neck 24/7. 

The Bad news is, since they won't be able to watch over me and keep track of where I am,  they appointed someone else to be my "stand in guardian" while they were gone. Can you take a wild guess as to who it was they assigned that task?

Yep, Karl Fink.

Just my luck, right?

Apparently the reason they waved him was because they trusted him and he lived close enough that it wouldn't be a hassle for him to stop by every once in awhile.

Luckily me and Karl came to an agreement that he'd only drop by about every two days to make sure I still had food, took my mess, and I hadn't accidentally fallen and broken something.

Our arrangement worked out fine. I'd go to school (somehow i hadnt lost any school knowledge in the crash, so I didn't have to redo things. Figures that those are the only memories I had) and come home. Most days I'd go out with Matthew at around 4 and come home at 7. Karl would come and Check on me at around 8 or so if it was a day he had to. he'd check in with me, look around to make sure nothing had broken or anything, then he'd leave. After he was gone, I'd eat and go to bed. If I had counseling or something, Karl or Matthew would drive me to the building then back home afterwards. That depended on if Matthew had soccer practice that day or not. Staring at the floor of the car helps with the whole riding in the car thing, as I've found out. Anyway, our arrangement worked.

But, of course, That all fell apart about a week into my parents month long trip.

Matthew and I had got into a fight on one of our dates. I would keep zoning out on accident, not pay attention. That's Happened a lot recently. He told me that until I cared about him and actually wanted to be with him, that we should take a break and see other people. Or that all that I heard at least. I think he said more but I was kind of in shock and didn't hear the whole thing.

I went home that night and cried. Well, cried isn't quite the word. Sobbed or bawled might fit the thing I did better.

I was so distracted that didn't even remember it was a day that Karl had to check on me. I didn't even hear him unlock the door or walk in the room. Needless to say, I was startled when Karl came in.

He saw me crying and immediately ran over, tripping over the rug and stumbling a bit, and asked what I had hurt, what was broken, did I need an ambulance or not.

"I broke My heart!" I cried out, clutching a pillow tightly to my chest. Now that I think about it, that was a little bit childish.

He looked stunned for a minute. Then he looked a little uncomfortable, his eyes drifting off to the left a little bit. "Did...did something happen with Matthew?" He asked.

I simply nodded, tears still running in rivers down my face, eyes glued to the ground.

"Do you want to talk about it or..." He asked, sounding like he didn't know what to do.

I peeked up at him through my tears.

I hiccuped and explained what happened. "H-he said t-that if I don't care a-about him, we should see o-other people until I did." 

Karl timidly rested his hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Why does he think you don't care about him?" Karl asked me, voice turning sort of soothing. I leaned into the touch almost without thought.

I sniffed and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. "I keep zoning out when he's talking, I guess I act kind of cold to him, I don't know! Maybe that was all an excuse. Maybe he was just sick of me..."

"Bullcrap!" Karl nearly shouted. I jumped, startled and scared, and looked over at him, my eyes wide. "I've heard the way he talks about you in the hallways. I've seen  the way you two look at each other. He does love you. A-and if he didn't it's his lose then. You're a smart, beautiful, confident, independent young lady that deserves someone who loves her." 

I stared at Karl for a minute, silently listening his little rant.

When his words registered I felt my face get warm. "T-thank you, Karl."

He looked over at me sheepishly. "Sorry,  that was out of line. I just don't like you thinking that anyone would be happy to just throw you away."

I smiled at him, and a light pink colored his cheeks.

I sniffed again and rubbed the remaining tears from my eyes. "Thank you Karl. I feel a little better now."

He smiled back, a cute little half smile with kind eyes, and I couldn't help admiring the adorable boy in front of me.

Before I could even think about what I was doing, I leaned foreward and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. He went completely stiff under my hands and mouth, pushing me off of him almost immediately.

I fell back into the cushions a little, looked at him for a second and then I felt my whole face go burning hot as what i had done sank in. "Oh my gosh, Karl, I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me! I just couldnt help it! Please forgive me. That was out of line."

Karl stood up, and looked at me.

" it's fine. I know it was just your breakup. Broken heart and everything. I gotta go. I'll see you later, Avery." He said in a monotone voice. He sounded eerily similar to a robot.

Before I could say anything in return, he turned heel and left. I heard the back dire lock click into place a few seconds later.

I sat on the couch, still leaning back into the cushions, thinking for about twenty  minutes before I was startled out of my wandering thoughts by the sound of nails clicking against the hardwood floor.

Stan walked into the room, shaking out his fur and yawning. "Oh, Avery! I didn't know you'd be home yet. Hey, what with the red eyes? What did I miss?"

~a/n~

Omg you guys I'm so sorry for making you guys wait. Honestly I've been so busy I forgot all about this. I'll try and update more often now, and again, I'm sorry for the long wait! 

😰