Amnesia | Dylan O'Brien

11

———

Even though I'm drunk and I can't feel a thing, my heart is still beating out of control. He leans in until I can feel his warm breath on my lips.

He looks into my eyes and swiftly whispers in my ear. "Not in this one." He pulls away and I sigh.

I walk over to the edge of the bed and sit down.

"You're not supposed to be drinking you know that." He sits next to me on the bed and rubs his hands over his face.

"I know." I quietly mutter and play with the hem of my dress. I quickly flinch at his cold hands moving to zip my dress back up. "Can I go home now?" I ask him.

"Of course."

(DYLAN's POV)

Good thing I didn't drink otherwise we would both be stuck here.

I've tried to stay away from all of that, despite how much I need it right now to escape from everything. But I don't. I do it for her.

She tries standing up but loses her balance.

"Here let me." I place her arm around my shoulder to steady her and we walk out of the house.

I thought we would bump into Charlie or Laura on the way out but thankfully we get to my car unnoticed.

"Nice car." She manages to giggle. I smile and open the passenger door for her. "I'll take it from here, hotshot." She pats my chest. I gently remove her arm from my shoulder and she gets in.

I start the engine and look at Cam - the girl I fell in love with. Colour drained from her cheeks and bloodshot eyes.

"Are you feeling ok?" I place my hand on her cheek and feel it heating up. "You're burni-"

"What did I almost do?" She interrupts while looking down at her hands, fiddling with them, clearly conflicted with herself.

"Something I won't let happen again." She looks up at me and my heart melts. Tears in her eyes and I can see the sadness. She forces a smile and looks back down again. I start the car.

———

Just before we get to her house I notice she's asleep, her head resting against the window.

I pull up to the house and get out of the car. I slowly open the passenger door, not wanting to wake up but her body nearly falling out of the car from the way she was leaning. I grab her before she falls and carry her bridal style up to her front door.

I ring the doorbell.

"Hey Sydney. I think I have something that belongs to you." I give her a small smile.

"Nope, not mine." She jokes, smiling. "You can take her upstairs." I nod.

I carry her all the way to her bed and gently place her down trying not to wake her. She fidgets as I place the covers over her body.

I start to leave until I hear a faint voice. "Dylan?" I hear her say.

I walk over to her and kneel at the side of her bed to face her.

"Yes?" I ask.

Her eyes open slightly and she puts her arms around my neck and brings me in for a hug.

"Thank you." She pulls back and kisses my cheek.

"Get some sleep now." I tell her and kiss her forehead before heading towards the door. I stop at the door frame and look back at her already asleep. I smile to myself. "I love you."

I turned around and it was strange.

I could've sworn I heard her say 'I love you' back but I looked back and she was fast asleep.

———

(CAMILLA's POV)

I wake up with the worst headache. Again.

My mind filled with a lot more thumps than before.

I try to think back to what actually happened yesterday but all I can remember is me saying to Charlie that I'll only have one drink. I guess I broke that and ended up with throbbing head pain as a consequence.

It's Sunday and all I want to do is to get this freaking pain out of my head by sleeping it off.

"Camilla! You up yet?" I heard my mom shout from downstairs. Even if I wasn't awake yet, I sure would be now. I grab the pillow and nuzzle my head into it and groan. "Camilla!" She repeats.

"I'm up! I'm up!" I groan, using most of my energy to speak. I crawl out of bed and get changed into some comfy clothes.

I walk downstairs and smell pancakes. Cure food.

I grab a glass and turn the cold water tap on. I look on the side of the sink to see a paracetamol packet. "Thanks, mom." I grab two and swallow, followed by a gulp of water to help it go down. "How did you know?"

"Hm?" She mumbles.

"About my headache? I can barely remember last night." I say rubbing my forehead. She faintly smiles at me.

"A young boy came knocking at my door with you in his arms. I told him to take you upstairs. And so he did." My mom says giving me a fairly specific look.

"Dylan?" I ask. My mom nods and I sigh.

"What's up?" She asks.

"I just feel like he tries to avoid me sometimes." I tell her what's on my mind.

"He's keeping his distance as much as he can. He has to. But he's still there to look after you." She responds.

"But what if I don't want him to? I want to remember everything." I sigh again.

"What if that damages those memories permanently. You won't get them back." I look to the floor.

"But what if I can remember mom? I need to remember, I really do. He seems so nice and sweet an-" I catch my mom widely smiling at me. "What? What!"

"You."

"Me?" I say pointing at myself.

"Listen to yourself." I eventually catch on to what she's saying and groan.

"Whatever." I roll my eyes and sit down at the table to eat my pancakes.