You're Always You

Chapter Seven

David Minett

Beep beep beep!

Another day, another....

Something.

Boring day at work.

Yeah, that worked.

David groaned as he reached for his alarm clock and shut it off. He rolled over towards his wife's side of the bed and muttered, "Baby. Keep me home today."

....

He didn't get a response.

Dave picked his head up with a slight frown, opening his eyes and finding Lydie's side of the bed...empty. And...this wasn't their bed.

What the fuck?

"Lydia?" he called, despite having a distinct feeling that she wasn't here. Because this...wasn't home.

Where the hell am I?

The man got out of bed in confusion, somewhat surprised to be wearing pants since he definitely wasn't when he went to sleep last night. He didn't recognize the room he was in, the building he was in, and yet somehow he knew where to find his clothes.

It was like he didn't know where anything was off the top of his head, but as soon as he went looking, his first guess was the right one. As if...he should've recognized this place, but didn't. As if his muscle memory knew this place, but....

David didn't.

It was frightening.

The first thing David did was grab his phone from the nightstand and start dialing his brother. Because, as far as he was concerned, he'd been kidnapped. This was not his home, and he did not remember getting here. He didn't even remember putting pants on.

Who the fuck was looking at his ass long enough to put pants on?

The thought was terrifying.

Perhaps more terrifying was that Brett didn't answer. Brett always answered. In fact, the scary part wasn't even that Brett didn't answer, but that his phone was out of service.

As in, he wasn't paying for it.

That...didn't make any sense.

Brett was almost more of a stand-up guy than David. He never missed payments on anything, least of all his phone, because he needed it.

Growing more concerned, David called his parents, not bothering with work today because fuck that this is terrifying. His heart raced as he listened to it ring, before letting out a sigh of relief upon hearing his mother's voice. "Hello?"

"Mom," David said. He opened his mouth to ask where the hell Brett was, but she cut him off with a gasp.

"Oh Davie~!" she cried. "Sweetheart, you never call—When did you get back from Afghanistan?"

....

"...Seven years ago, Mom," Dave replied, furrowing his brows. What....Did his mother suddenly develop dementia overnight? "Are you okay?"

The woman scoffed. "Oh don't be a smartass," she retorted. "I meant this time."

....

He shook his head, deciding not to deal with that right now. He could question his mother's integrity later, right now he needed to know what was wrong with his brother. "Whatever. Mom. Have you talked to Brett?"