A Loss For Words

Olivia

It's eight months later when she forgets Olivia's name.

He watches as Mia's best friend in the world tries not to react when her greeting is met by a confused expression but he can see that Olivia's face is about to crumple in disappointment.

"Olivia, hey," he calls, and Mia's face lights up in recognition. Sometimes she just needs a reminder.

"Olivia!" she says cheerily, and she grins.

"Hi, Mia, hi James," she says back, but James can tell that she hasn't recovered quite yet. He watches carefully, not wanting to intervene unless he has to, but Olivia shakes it off quickly enough and they start talking normally.

Well, as normally as Mia can hold a conversation these days. He slips away quietly so they can talk without him hovering.

He's sitting on their bed, watching a basketball game, when he suddenly hears yelling coming from the living room. He scrambles to his feet and runs out the door to find Mia yelling at Olivia, who is staring up at her with a shocked expression on her face.

"Hey," he interrupts, and Mia spins around to face him, her eyebrows knotted in anger. "What's going on?"

"She—" Mia says, pointing to Olivia, "said that—that—that—" she stops, and lets out a frustrated groan. "She said that I wrote you a song for another girl!"

He looks at Olivia in confusion.

"I was talking about the time we worked at IHOP," she says quietly. "And that song you sang when you embarrassed yourself in front of that girl, Tanvi."

He nods.

"Hey, Mia?" he says calmly. "Can I talk to Olivia for a second?"

She looks at him suspiciously but nods and walks out of the room.

He sits down heavily next to Olivia. "She gets jealous really easily now," he explains. "Personality thing. I should have told you but I didn't think my past love interests would come up in your conversation."

"But she doesn't remember any of that?"

He shakes his head. "A lot of our high school memories are gone. She remembers a few things, sometimes really random things, but...let's just say we don't really reminisce anymore."

She doesn't say anything for a long moment. "How are you holding up?"

He sighs and lets himself lean back on the couch. "I'm okay, Olivia," he says tiredly. "I'm sorry you came on a bad day."

"How many bad days are there compared to good days?" she asks softly.

He rubs his face with his hands. "It's kind of fifty-fifty now. Maybe a little more bad than good. She..." he trails off, hesitating. "She can't really play the piano anymore. And that was her outlet and I don't really know what's gonna happen."

She watches him for a minute and then hugs him and he's startled for a minute before he hugs her back. "Thanks, Olivia," he says quietly. "Thanks for sticking around."

She laughs a little as they separate. "Where am I gonna go? And hey, Kyle would have come too but he's travelling."

"Yeah, I know," he says, grinning. "He called me yesterday. I can't believe he's in Singapore for three weeks."

She rolls her eyes. "He'd better bring me back something expensive," she says warningly and he laughs.

"I'm pretty sure he knows the drill by now."

She grins and stands up. "Should I say bye to Mia, or—" she trails off questioningly.

"Nah," he says, shaking his head. "It's probably better if she sees you later."

Her face falls a little and he smiles at her. "Hey, it'll be okay. She doesn't hold grudges. Come over again soon?"

"Definitely." She hugs him again and then he slumps against the closed door as soon as she's gone, letting out a breath.

"James?"

He quickly stands up straight and walks into the living room to see Mia running her fingers over their piano.

"Who's Tanvi?" she asks as he takes a seat next to her.

"A girl I tried to impress when we were in high school," he replies. "Waaaay before I realized I had feelings for you. You helped me write a song for her but I was too stupid to explain how I felt and the first version ended up having really weird, really bad lyrics."

"Like what?" she asks curiously.

"I told her she was the peanut butter to my jelly," he says dryly, and she bursts into laughter.

He grins at her and then he watches as her face falls a little. "I feel really bad."

"Olivia understands."

She searches his eyes to find that he's telling the truth and she nods, turning her attention back to the piano.

"Can you play—play—play—" she stutters.

"Sure," he replies quickly. "Something old or something new?"

"Old," she says softly.

He shifts a little so his hands are on the correct keys and begins to sing.

She watches him intently as he finishes the song. "That was good. Who was it about?" she asks, when he's finished.

"You," he says, shrugging. "Who else?"

She's silent for a minute. "We aren't timeless, you know," she says in a strange voice. "I only have a certain amount of time left."

This is a lot more common now, too, her talking about how she doesn't have a lot of life left to live. He's still not used to it.

"I'll take whatever I can get," he whispers, trying not to let her see his face. "And...you know I'll never forget you, right?"

"Even if I forget you?" she asks, and he feels her gaze, intense and dark.

He closes his eyes.

"Even then."