Hidden Memories

XVI. Familiarity

Freia's POV

My eyes fluttered open and saw the familiar ceiling of the infirmary. My head felt heavy and my throat felt dry. I turned my head to see Nero's head on the bed, but his cheeks were on the mattress so I couldn't see his face. But I still knew that it was him.

I got up slowly, my body getting heavier every time I lay in the vicinity. My hand was stuck with something, and I looked down sleepily to see that it was entangled in Nero's.

My cheeks flushed and a smile appeared its way on my lips without me holding back. My heartbeat quickened as I gently pulled my hand out of his grip.

He groaned and pulled my hand closer to him, hugging it. He turned his head and a small smile displayed on his lips.

"You're awake," He murmured. I sighed at the sight I was blessed to see.

"Yes," I whispered. His eyelids slowly opened, revealing electric blue irises, he used his other hand to get the crumbs out of his tear ducts while sitting up. He blinked and yawned, tears formed at the corners of his eyes.

His beautiful eyes suddenly widened, as if remembering something. He turned to me, his mouth open. "You're awake!" He suddenly winced and rubbed his neck. "Ow."

I chuckled, feeling the lightness in my heart. Strange. "Yes."

"Clarence, she's awake!" He grabbed a pillow from the next bed and threw it at the sleeping teacher.

It hit Clarence square in the face and, like a domino effect, hit his head at the wall, rendering him awake. He grunted and held his head with his hand, he used the other to throw back the pillow at Nero hard.

"It would be nice if you woke me up singing rather than use violence," he said as he glared at Nero.

"It doesn't matter. She's awake." Clarence turned to me, his eyes still clouded with sleepiness.

"She obviously is." He stood up and stretched. "I'm gonna get coffee."

He left, leaving us confused.

"Maybe, you shouldn't have woken him up like that," I mused. "And he just needed coffee, I think."

"No regrets," he said with a triumphant smile. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Better," I smiled. I remembered the times that I spent with him. I decided to bring up his heroic deeds. "This is the second time that you saved me from water."

His mouth hung open, and I pushed his lower jaw up with my forefinger, closing it as I chuckled. "You remember?"

I thought for a second before answering. "Well, I only remember pretty much everything about you. But there were names that had gone through my head. Like Willow, Peter, Scott, Xyrene, and some other people."

"You remember me...." he trailed off, trying to digest the fact that he was the only one I remembered. Tears welled up in his eyes and I knew what was gonna happen next.

"Aw, you're gonna cry," I laughed, letting go of his hand so I could hold his face. I squeezed his cheeks, making him look like a fish, but that only made him more adorable. "Baby."

With all my might, I pulled him into a crushing hug, feeling the hole in my heart filling. He hugged me back, crushing me until I couldn't breathe, but I didn't mind. I remembered him.

When I closed my eyes, flashes of my childhood with the boy showed. Him laughing heartily. His cat he brought to the Manor when I was sick. The storms that he would hide from in my blankets as I sang him to calm him until he sleeps. The drawings I had thrown at the ground, out of frustration that I couldn't exactly copy what my subjects looked like; but he picked them up and slid them in his pockets, sending me smiles as he goes. Him diving in the pool, pulling me out of a body of water.