Forgotten Memories (Shoey)

Ch 17- Letting Go

I sit under the tree, not sure about what I should do next. Every last bone in my body is telling me to go find Joey but there's something off about this. Really off about this. I feel like I'm flying away and sinking under at the same time. All I want is to feel grounded. Joey is the only one that can make me feel stable.

What if I never find him? What if this is my eternity? What if Joey and I weren't meant to be together in the afterlife? I hope that's not true. I don't think I can live without Joey forever. I know it sounds cheesy and all to say all that mushy crap about Joey, but it's all true. I've been with him for so long, I forgot how to live without him.

I pull at the grass, trying to occupy my hands so they don't shake as much. I need a plan. I want to go out and find him, but that means I'll have to leave this tree. This tree is the only thing that truly knows the nature of Joey and I's relationship. We've had a lot of great moments, but there were also a lot of downfalls to balance it out. I want to experience that love again along with the pain. How am I supposed to just get up and leave behind all these memories? I'm not even sure that I'll find him if I do.

"Want some company?" I hear a familiar voice ask. I tilt my head up to find Hayley towering over me with a comforting smile displayed on her face.

"Sure," I respond. She plops down next to me on the grass and leans against the rough trunk of the tree. We sit there in a comfortable silence for a few extended moments before I try to make small talk. "So how was your walk?"

"It was okay. I cleared my mind up and I revisited my memory tree," She replies.

"Where's your memory tree?"

"Right there." She points towards an ordinary oak tree about a quarter mile away from where we are. "And that's Kimiko's tree." She points to another plain oak tree a little more East to where we are.

"But it's plain. It's all just leaves on the branches. Where are the memories?" I ask.

"There on the branches. You just can't see them because they're not your memories. You can only see your memories on your own tree. Your tree looks normal to me just like my tree looks normal to you. All these trees are memory trees, but the memories belong to others."

"There's a lot of trees here. Where are the owners of the other trees?"

"That's a question I can't answer. Maybe they all left because they knew there was something more out there for them."

"So you think we should leave?"

"I think we should go find the answers we're looking for. I know you're attached to your tree just like I am with mine, Shane, but we have to let it go. Let the memories go and move on. There's something greater out there for us, I know it. We need to leave the past behind and go find our future."

"But what about Kimiko? I don't think she'd be too excited to leave," I suggest.

"She is coming with us whether she likes it or not. No one is going to be left behind. She deserves to know what's out there just as much as we do." She pulls herself off the ground and holds out her hand to help me up. "Ready to go?" She asks. I grab her hand and let her pull me off the ground.

"Not quite yet. There's one more memory I want to relive before we leave."

"Well, I'll leave you to it then. See you back at the house. I'll tell Kimiko about our plans while I'm at it." She pats my arm gently and leaves me behind, walking in the direction towards the house. There's just one more moment that I want to relive before I let go...

Hey, I know this chapter was short but I promise the next one will be much longer. I have a quick question though. Do you guys want smut in the next chapter? I haven't put any in this story yet, so idk if you guys would want it or not. Just wondering :)