Don't You Remember?

Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen.

(Calum’s P.O.V.)

I’m quietly sitting next to Sophie’s hospital bed. We decided it was best for me to go in alone, in case she doesn’t remember any of the boys again. The nurse said she could wake up anytime now, and the nerves are rushing through my body. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like if she lost her memory again. I don’t think any of us can go through this again, especially Sophie. She is being so strong about the whole situation, I’m constantly waiting for her to freak out and fly home. I feel incredibly guilty for what happened with Sophie today. I promised her dad I would look after her, and I really failed here. I should have put my foot down and keep her away from Ashton. I look at my best friend from more than 12 years and take her hand in mine. She doesn’t deserve this. ‘Hmm’ I hear Sophie murmur to herself. I immediatly sit up straight and I wait for her to completely wake up. She blinks with her eyes a couple of times and looks around with a confused look on her face. ‘Hi’ I softly say to her. ‘Hey’ she says, examing the state she is in. ‘What happened?’ she asks me. ‘What do you remember?’ I look at her and pray to all the gods she knows what happened. ‘I was uhm, talking to Ashton and then I blacked out’ she says, avoiding my gaze and fumbling with the sheets. ‘Liar’ I grin ‘Ashton wasn’t wearing a shirt when we walked in, I assume you did a little more than talking.’ She giggles ‘well maybe’ and looks at me, waiting for my reaction. ‘It’s fine, Ashton told us what happened. How are you feeling?’ I ask her, trying to read her face. ‘I’m feeling okay actually, a bit tired but that’s all.’ She smiles at me and then softly whispers ‘Cal, don’t tell anyone but I think I remember.’ Sophie is one of those people where you never know if she is serious or not. ‘What?! Are you for serious?’ I ask her. She nods and I take a good look at her. I can tell something in her face changed but I can’t quite put my finger on it. If this was a joke Sophie would have laughed already, she sucks at these things. ‘Oh my god really?’ I practically scream. ‘Cal shhh, yes!’ she says, laughing at my high pitched voice. ‘Why do you not want to tell anyone?’ I whisper at her, like there is anyone that can hear us talk. ‘Because.. I want to tell Ashton when we’re alone’ she murmurs. I smile at her, suddenly feeling a bit emotional. This has been a long road for all of us and I’m so glad she finally got her memory back. ‘Of course, I understand, I’ll get him for you okay?’ I say.

(Sophie’s P.O.V.)

Calum just walked out of my room to get Ashton. I’m suddenly feeling incredibly nervous, not really knowing how to bring this news. I sit up straight and try to look a bit decent for my boyfriend which is a hopeless case. I decide that if he really loves me he just needs to suck it up and he shouldn’t care about how I look. I know he doesn’t care about how I look, but it would be nice if this would be one of those romantic moments where I look great. I feel so different than I did earlier today. I’m completely overwhelmed with all these feelings and memories, and forever grateful I remember my old life again. Moments of the past weeks flash through my head and suddenly I feel so much respect for Ashton, who, no matter what I did or said to him, never gave up on me. I knew he cared about me, but I didn’t know it was this much. I play with the ring around my finger, the one that Ashton gave to me on our one year anniversary. I smile at the memory, kissing the ring. I hear soft footsteps in the hallway, and a few moments later Ashton’s head peeks through the door. ‘Hi Sophie’ he smiles at me ‘Can I come in?’. ‘Yeah of course!’ I mention for him to sit on the bed next to me. ‘So Ash uhm..’ I mumble. I don’t really know how to bring this quite important news. 'You make my life worthwhile, it's all about you' I say quietly, hoping Ashton catches the hint. I’m quoting the lyrics from All About You that’s engraved in the ring Ashton gave me. Smiling at the memory I look up at Ashton, hoping his facial expression is going to give something away. I’m looking in two big, hopeful eyes. ‘Sophie don’t joke about this..’ he says, breathing in sharply. ‘I’m not kidding Ash, I remember’ I say, looking as serious as possible. Ashton jumps up from the bed, walks away and then turns around again. ‘Oh my god. Are you absolutely sure?’ he asks me. ‘100% sure.’ ‘What’s the first meal I ever cooked you?’ he says. ‘What?’ I’m a bit confused at this sudden change of topic. ‘The first meal I cooked you Soph, what was it?’ ‘Lasagna’ I answer, suddenly catching on to this little game of his. ‘The name of my dog?’ ‘Indie’ I say, without missing a beat. ‘First concert we went to together?’ ‘The 1975’ I answer, smiling at the memory. ‘Where were we gonna have diner the day you had the accident?’. Oh. It doesn’t immediately come to mind and even I begin to doubt if I actually have my memory back. I go back to sitting next to Tessa in the car and try to remember what she said. ‘Oh yeah, this new restaurant opened a few weeks ago, it’s called Venezia and it has the best pasta.’ ‘Venezia!’ I practically yell at him. ‘We were gonna have diner at Venezia!’. ‘Oh my god’ mumbles Ashton to himself. He looks at me and says ‘You really remember!’. He walks over to my bed and sits down again. He takes my small hand in his large ones and kisses it softly. For a while we just sit there, Ashton holding my hand tight and just looking at each other. Both realizing how lucky I am to have my memory back. After 20 minutes of complete silence I can’t take it anymore and press my lips to Ashton’s. He softly kisses me back and strokes my hair. The door flies open and me and Ashton break our kiss. I see Luke’s tall frame stumbling through the door, followed by an over excited Michael. After they both squeezed me so tight I’m gasping for air, we all break out in excited chatter about how great this is.

The next day I get to leave to hospital. The boys already left last night, it took some convincing, but they had a show to play. I talked to the doctor this morning, and he explained to me what happened. Kissing Ashton probably brought back so many memories that my mind couldn’t comprehend what was happening anymore, so it blacked out. He said I was lucky to get my memory back, a lot of people who experience this never get their memory back. On the way back to the tourbus I think about the heavy months I’ve had. It’s been quite a rollercoaster, but I thank my lucky stars I’m still together with Ashton. He is the best thing that could have ever happened to me, and the way he supported me means the world to me. It must have been so hard for him. We approach the tourbus and I can already see the boys waiting outside for me. I get out of my taxi and run over to Ashton. It feels like I haven’t seen him in years, and I long to be in his arms. He lifts me up and hugs me tight. He softly put me back on my feet again and kisses me. I close my eyes and take in everything. The way he tastes, the way he smells, the way his curly hair feels and the way this hands softly trace figures on my back. We pull apart and look at each other. And right there at that moment, I realise that no matter what life throws at me, as long as Ashton is by my side there is nothing we can’t fight.