Remember Me

2020.12.16

Eddy yawned; it was nearly midnight, and he had listened to Brett toss and turn for what was too many hours already. He glanced up at the still-awake Brett, before closing the screen of his laptop and walking over to kneel by his bedside.

"Hey," he hummed, "everything alright?"

He combed his hand through Brett's hair, watching as he furrowed a brow in confusion. His own eyes were beginning to shut after all the exhaustion and work, but he jolted awake at the thought of what could happen if he slept. There had already been days when he woke up, only to find Brett out of the house and stumbling around the porch. Sometimes he wondered - and feared - how long he would lose Brett for if he had taken a few steps onto the sidewalk and beyond.

Brett's eyes were still clouded over. The nightlight in the corner reflected the distraction and unfamiliarity that lingered behind his eyes, a look that Eddy still found unsettling despite seeing it more often than he wanted to. "Where am I?"

"You're home, Brett." The answer was nearly automatic, as if it was muscle memory. "You're in our- your room."

"Where is that?"

Eddy brushed Brett's bangs off to the side. "In Brisbane."

"Wrong." He frowned. "We're not in Brisbane."

"Where are we, then?"

"Sydney."

Melbourne yesterday, Tokyo the day before that, and even Alaska at some point - Eddy knew better than to go against Brett's words to spare his irritation, especially when it was the middle of the night and all Eddy wanted to do was crawl into bed. He nodded and smiled gently. "That's good. Thanks for telling me. I had nearly forgotten."

Brett didn't reply. He stared at the empty white ceiling, his eyes wide and glazed. Eddy's hand continued to run through Brett's hair until it felt like just another repetitive action where he didn't even feel the strands of hair graze his fingers anymore. His gaze carried sorrow as it looked down at Brett: Brett, who had lost the gleam in his eyes too long ago, too soon, and had been reduced to a brittle shell of what he was two years ago.

Eddy shut his eyes, indulging in the silence between them. If he focused hard enough, perhaps the present could feel more like the past instead of the purgatory it was. And no matter how selfish it was that he was focused on the past, he couldn't help but reminisce either way, finding some form of bitterness and comfort in the memories.

Thoughts of math tutoring were interrupted by a shaky voice.

"Where am I?"

He took a shallow breath. "You're home, Brett. You're in your room."

"Oh."

Eddy opened his eyes once he heard Brett shifting in the bed. Brett had turned to face the other wall, where the window curtains were shut and barely any moonlight filtered through onto the carpet. His back was illuminated to Eddy, who continued to kneel there, exhausted.

"When did you clean the red flowers?"

He blinked. "Red... flowers?"

"Yeah. Wasn't there some there?"

He stood up, letting go of Brett's hair, and walked over to the other side of the bed to try and see what Brett was speaking of. There were a few strange questions that Brett asked every once in a while, but this one was completely new, and Eddy wasn't so sure as to how he should react. He continued to blink as he stood there, his pristine white carpet untarnished by any scarlet.

"Uh," Eddy had a slight suspicion, but wasn't sure if he wanted to act on it just yet, "can you describe the flowers?"

"It's red. It- it, um-" Brett fell into silence.

"That's okay," Eddy reassured. "Don't worry about it. I cleaned it up this morning, Brett - why don't you go to sleep now?"

A nod.

Eddy pulled the blanket over Brett, being sure to tuck him in before slumping in the armchair by the corner. His mind lingered on the red flowers for longer than it should have, until he heard Brett tossing and turning once again after realizing sleep was no longer an option for him. But despite the noise in the room and the questions that began to invade Eddy's mind, the comfort of the armchair was taking over, and he found himself falling asleep in no time.

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-vilopan_