Memory After Memory

Chapter 4

Julian and Viney stared at each other for a moment, saying nothing. Viney broke the staring contest and went to her room, slamming the door which made me flinch.

I looked at Julian. "Was it something I said?"

He shook his head. "No. No no. It was something that I was going to say."

"And that is?"

"Something you shouldn't worry about. What do you say we go for a drive?"

"Are you deliberately ignoring my question?"

"Do you want to remember what happened before you fell asleep?"

That stopped me in my tracks for a minute. "Whatever you were going to say must have been part of it."

Julian shook his head. "Like I said, don't worry about it."

I wanted so badly to push more, but I found myself unable to bring any more words to my mouth other than "Okay."

We got into his car, a nice 2017 Silver Chevy with tinted windows. For some reason, this felt very familiar to me. As soon as I sat in the passenger's side, I immediately went into the glove box and found 2 rings, 1 with diamond and one that was a simple, silver band, but both of them had "Mine Forever Forever Mine" engraved into them. I grabbed the one with the diamond on it.

I smiled as I looked at the ring on my finger, diamond and "Mine Forever Forever Mine" engraved in it. Best birthday present ever!! I kept that ring on my left hand. It just felt right. I'm sure Julian is doing the same thing with his. My phone buzzed, taking me out of my state of daydream. I looked and it was a text from Julian. "Good night sweetheart. Sweet dreams."  with a heart eyes emoji. I replied with "Goodnight darling" and set my phone down, going to sleep.

"You remember that ring?"

I looked up and saw Julian had been watching me, letting me reminisce, and the car was already started. I smiled as I looked back at the ring. "I remember getting it for my birthday. I'm not sure which birthday it was, but I remember telling myself that this would always stay with me."

Julian nodded, smiling. "I gave that to you on your 18th birthday. It's a promise ring."

I smiled at the memory. "A promise ring...How long did we date before we got them?"

"1 year. We started dating on your 17th birthday."

I looked at Julian. "Did something happen to ruin that?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Actually, you fell into your coma 2 days before I could ask you to marry me."

I paused. He gave me a small smile and before I could say anything, he backed out of the driveway and we drove around.

                        ~ * * * ~

A few weeks later and I was washing dishes in Viney's kitchen, Julian watching from the couch and obviously enjoying the sight of me in the kitchen. I only smiled about it, keeping my thoughts to myself. Viney had gone out to get some grocery shopping done. My phone vibrated on the counter with a notification.

After drying my hands off, I checked my phone after it vibrated again and saw that Viney had sent me a text.

'I'm gonna be there in a couple minutes in case you guys are bored.'

I just shook my head at the message and put my phone back down. I looked back at Julian who had still been watching me. "Is there something you want sir?" I joked.

Julian laughed and stood up, walking toward me. "Not really. Just wanting to see if what we had is still there."

I looked into his eyes, the sea green eyes that had always captivated me and somehow still does. 16-year-old me wanted to play cute and shy, look away pretending not to be mesmerized by him. However, we both knew that 24-year-old me was very different. I couldn't help but stare, get lost in them.

Julian started to lean in to kiss me before Viney had walked into the house. "Hey guys! I'm home. Sorry I left so early. I was just- oh." She saw how close Julian got to me. There was a shift of energy in the room. "Did I interrupt something?"

I even noticed how close we were standing when she asked that and I took a step back. "Uh, no it's okay. Where did you go?"

Julian looked at me for a second, then stood right where he was. He seemed kind of hurt when I backed up a step, but I didn't bother to point it out.

Viney held up bags. "Grocery shopping!"

I forgot about the shopping. Damn it Julian! "I forgot about that."

"It's alright. I forgot who was in my house for a minute because I'm not used to having people stay over."

"Even though I've been here for a month and a half?"

Viney laughed. "Yeah yeah. I'm still getting used to it."

Viney's laugh was the one thing I never forgot. It was hard to forget that hyena laugh. I always made fun of it with her.

Julian chuckled. "I would've thought you were fine with it from the start."

Viney looked at him. "You know how often I have people over."

"Hm. Maybe because you never bothered to make more friends after Amy-"

"So, Amy, what do you think we should to tonight?"

Julian crosses his arms, more annoyed than ever. I had to agree. Something about Viney was different than the Viney I remembered. She never cut him off once when it was about me. Now, whatever she was hiding was taking my interest more and more.

Julian's phone vibrated. He looked at his phone then cursed. "One moment." He left the room going on a phone call.

Viney and I both stared as he walked out, then looked at each other. Neither of us needed to say anything to know what we were thinking.

A few minutes later, Julian came back in. He leaned against the door, like he was hiding a gift or something. "Amy, I think you should go to your room for a moment. Viney, I'm gonna need your help."

Viney scoffed. "You want my help?"

Julian nodded, making a small motion that made Viney realize something and then she agreed. She walked me to my room before I could say anything. "We'll be right back. Promise." She shut the door behind her.

My flabbers are SO ghasted right now. They were just picking another fight with each other and now they're buddies again. When Viney said I'd have a hard time wrapping my head around the new town, I'm having a harder time wrapping my head around their interactions. I just decided to let it go and turn on the T.V while I waited.