Selfless

8

Colby's reaction was almost instant as soon as my lips touched his. He groaned slightly and pulled me closer to him as he deepened the kiss.

It felt like the world stopped for us in this moment as he worked at my lips with his own.

We were both breathless as we pulled away, "I love you. You don't have to say it back but please know that I'm so fucking in love with you." He said and caressed my cheek with his thumb. I didn't know how to respond so I just smiled at him. I stared into his eyes again until a sharp shock of pain filled my head.

"Are you okay?" He asked with concern as I reached up to hold my head in my hands. "Yeah, just got a headache." He bit his lip nervously and watched my face carefully as the pain subsided, "I'm okay, Colby." I said and he just nodded, "okay, well Kat wants to take you to breakfast so we should probably get back." He said and I nodded, "just follow me okay?" He asked and stood up fully then walked to his car. We stopped and got my car gas and then went back home.

"Don't run away like that! You don't know where you are Cora, do you even understand how worried we all were!" Dad said when we walked back inside.

"Dan give her a break, she probably just needed to get away. This house is full of people she doesn't know, it's probably really scary for her." Michelle said as dad hugged me. "Just..I don't know think before you run off like that though." He said and swayed us back and forth as Katrina came down the stairs, she smiled at me when I looked up at her,

"hey! Ready to go?" She asked and grabbed her purse, "yeah, let me grab my wallet." I said and went to go upstairs but she stopped me, "don't worry about it, come on." She said and opened the door for me.

"I would ask you how you're doing but you're probably sick of that question." She said as we got in her car. "Yeah, but I understand. I'm doing okay. I just wish I could go back to normal already." I said and looked down. I noticed that I was subconsciously messing with the ring on my left hand. I couldn't help but smile as I looked up again, "yeah, it's been really hard not having you fully here." She said and started to drive.

"I'm so sorry you're going through this. I can't even imagine how you're feeling during all of us." I said and she just laughed, "you're concerned about me and how I'm feeling? Cor, you literally lost over a years worth of memories! I can't imagine how you're feeling!" She said with a laugh, "can you tell me how it happened?" I asked and she bit her lip.

"Do you think you can handle it?" She asked and took one of her hands off the wheel so she could pick at the rips in her jeans. I thought about it for a minute, what could have happened that would be so bad? If it was really bad and I couldn't handle it would I want to put Kat through that?

"No. I don't think I can." I said and she nodded, "okay, I think it's better if Colby tells you anyways." She said and took a deep breath as she pulled into the parking lot, "where are we?" I asked and looked at the coffee shop in front of us, "this is java cafe, we worked here together. It's where we met." She said and I smiled, "are you trying to jog my memory, Katrina?" I asked and she laughed, "mayyyybe, also stop calling me Katrina it's weird." She said and scrunched her nose at me.

"What am I supposed to call you?" I asked with a laugh and opened my door. "You call me Kat. Everyone does except for Sam most of the time." She said and I nodded, "okay, Kat it is." I said with a smile as she opened the door to the cafe.

I looked around the room and tried to spark some sort of memory but nothing was coming to me. Kat nudged me with her arm as I chewed on my cheek, "hey, if nothing is coming to you don't worry about it. Let's just hang out and maybe you'll start to remember the friendship we had." She said and I nodded. We walked up to the counter and I watched as they made lattes,

I always wanted to learn how to do latte art. Maybe I did know how to do it but my stupid brain forgot about it.

"Is that Kat and Cora?!" The short blonde exclaimed on the other side of the counter, "it is! Hey Jordan." Kat said and I smiled at the girl, "how have you been!? I heard you had a kid, congrats!" She said to me, "thank you," I said and felt Kat wrap her arm around mine, "how have you been?" She asked the girl behind the counter who was already prepping our cups, knowing exactly what we would be ordering.

"I've been good, I miss having you guys around. It's pretty boring now on this side of the counter." She said and gestured to the espresso machine. "We should visit more often, shouldn't we Cora?" Kat said and I nodded, "sure, we should." I said and smiled again at the girl behind the counter.

I could feel myself getting frustrated again with the fact that I didn't know anything. I just felt so lost in every conversation, "well we should get going, it was nice seeing you!" Kat said and let me to the spot where we could pick up our drinks.

"What do I usually drink here?" I mumbled to Kat as the barista handed me my drink, "chai latte." Kat said with a giggle and waved to our old coworkers one more time before leading me out.

"Okay, next stop. Breakfast." Kat said and and started driving us to the breakfast spot.

"Is there a significance to ihop?" I asked as she pulled into the parking lot. "Not really, other than the fact that you're obsessed with pancakes." She said with a laugh and I nodded, "I do love a good pancake." I said and got out of the car.

"We usually came here the morning after parties though, so I guess there's a little bit of significance." She said as we made our way inside.

"I don't like parties though..I feel like I have changed so much and I'm gonna let you guys down if I don't go back to who I was before the memory loss." I sighed out and she laughed, "don't worry, that part hasn't changed. You still really hate parties." She said with a laugh.

We talked and ate breakfast like nothing ever happened. Kat told me a bunch of stories and filled me in on the goofy friendship we had, but I still couldn't remember any of it. As we were finishing up breakfast a younger girl came up to us nervously,

"Hi I'm sorry to bother you guys..I'm just..I'm a huge fan of Sam and Colby and I wanted to tell you that you guys are really pretty." She said and I smiled awkwardly at her. "Thank you so much! What's your name?" Kat asked as the girl nervously swayed, "Renee." She said and swayed nervous as she looked at me, "it's really nice to meet you." I said and she smiled slightly. She stared at me for a second as if she was contemplating something , then finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry..but are the rumors true?" She asked and looked at me, "what rumors?" I asked and looked nervously at Kat. "That you and Colby broke up.." she said and Kat let out a sigh of relief, "no, they are very much together still." Kat said and lifted my left hand to show the engagement ring. "I knew it! Well I'm sorry to bother you guys." She said and I smiled, "it's not a bother at all. It was nice meeting you Renee." I said and she smiled at me before scurrying off.

"Does that happen often?" I asked and Kat shrugged, "when we are out with the boys yeah, but not when it's just us usually." Kat said and I nodded as my phone buzzed.

Unknown number: hey Cora, it's Stephanie. I'm sure you remember me right? 😉 well I just wanted to check in. How's your fiancée doing?

I scrunched my brow and looked up at Kat. "What is it?" She asked as I read the message again.

"Who's Stephanie?"