more ↠ lrh

five

I hesitantly walked inside the coffee shop, the bell ringing above my head. The same coffee shop in my dream. My memory. 

I looked around, hoping something will trigger a memory. The barista's eyes fell on me. Molly. That's her name.

"Arabella!" she smiled at me. "I haven't seen you in a while, I was starting to get scared something happened. Your regular?"

I nodded, pulling my wallet from my pocket, paying her. I took the cold drink from her hand, sipping it. I smiled softly as she grinned at me. "How are you?"

I chuckled, looking down at my drink. "I'm fine. Yourself?"

"Good," she nodded. "It's been weird without you two cheering up the place."

"'Us two?'"

"You and Luke," she chuckled, rolling her eyes at me. "Even the manager loves you two."

"When's the last time Luke was in here?" 

"He's right over there at your usual table,"  she nodded. "Bought your coffee, I figured you were coming."

I turned my head, seeing him sitting at the same table from my dreams. His back was towards me, a book propped up in his hands.

"Thanks, Molly." I mumbled, turning and moving towards him

I quickly tossed my drink in the trash, taking the seat in front of him. He sat up quickly, his eyes wide with shock. 

"Bell, uh-hey."

He had his usual hot coffee sat in front of him, my iced one on the table in front of me. I wrapped my fingers around it and took a sip. "Why'd you get me a drink?"

He closed his book, siting up straighter. "I don't know. It makes it seem like you're still here."

"I remembered something last night," I said, looking down at the coffee. "In my dream."

Luke leaned forward. "What was it?"

"It was me and you," I said to him. "We were walking here. We got out regular drinks, fought over the hot and cold, and started reading. You told me you loved me."

Luke smiled softly, looking down at his drink. "That was a normal day for us."

"How long we were together?"

"Almost four years."

"That's a long time, I don't remember any of that."

"Yeah."

"My parents aren't really telling me anything, can you help me?"

He met my eyes and nodded. There were bags underneath his eyes, his bright blue eyes dull. "What do you want to know?"

"Who I am, what I liked to do for fun, what my job was like, what my life was like before the accident."

"You're Arabella Toth," Luke smiled softly at me. "But I call you Bell. You love to read, I didn't before I met you and now there's always a book in my hand. You love to dance, not seriously of course. You love your true crime TV shows. You used to always steal my hoodies."

"How can I not remember such an important part of my life?" I frowned, looking at my fingers.

"I don't know," he said, running his hands over his face and into his hair. "I miss you so fucking much."

"I want to remember you so bad, Luke, I'm giving myself migraines every night in hopes of just a slip of a memory, something to tell me who you are," I said, tears starting to burn my eyes. "But I can't. They told me not to force it. They told me to go about my normal life but I don't know what that is."

"That's because your parents don't know what's normal for you," he scoffed. "They haven't since you since you graduated college."

"What?" I leaned forward, watching panic flash across his features.

He just nodded. "They didn't agree with your choice of lifestyle. Then we met and they hated me. So you cut them off. You told them if they couldn't love you for you the they couldn't see you at all. And you hadn't seen them for 4 years, until the accident."

"What happened to David?"

Luke rolled his eyes at the name. "That asshole?"

"Were we together when we met?"

He nodded. I leaned forward, trying to meet his eyes. "What happened?"

He quickly shook his head. "I'm not supposed to tell you."

"What?" I asked him. "I came to you because I thought you would tell me what I wanted to know."

"I can't tell you this. Anything else, not this-"

"Why the hell not?"

"Because," he replied. "I can't."

"Fine," I huffed, standing up and grabbing my purse. "Thanks for nothing."

"Bell, wait-" He grabbed my hand but I snatched it away. "Just wait."

"I think it's best we don't see each other anymore, Luke, I don't even know who you are," I said to him. "You're a stranger. You could be a stalker for all I know."

"No, Bell, we're a couple," he cried, following me from the coffee shop. "I love you, please don't push me away."

"I can't do this." I huffed, my head starting to spin with confusion.

I stopped, leaning against the pole, squeezing my eyes shut. Pain washed over my head, causing me to grip the pole tighter.

"Bell, please- are you alright?"

I pressed a hand into my head, hoping the pain would go away but it just got stronger. Luke's hands went to my waist, holding me up as I started slipping towards the ground.

"Bell, baby, what's wrong?" 

My eyes fell shut as his arms wrapped tighter around me.