Faded Memories

Chapter 29

"Ask me to be your girlfriend, Carter. Let's pretend that the last time never happened, let's wipe the slate clean. If you try it again, I'm pretty sure there will be a better outcome." I smirked, still whispering as neither of us wanted to wake Liam up.

"What if I've changed my mind? Maybe I've found somebody else..." He laughed, before cocking his head to the side and looking at me properly. "Amelia Heart... will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?"

"I'm not sure you know, that's a pretty big commitment..." I gave him a serious stare, watching as his face dropped before laughing again. "Of course I will, Carter." I placed a kiss on his cheek, not wanting to distract him too much from the road ahead.

"Oh, get a room already!" Liam mumbled from the back of the car, resulting in me throwing an empty water bottle at him and telling him to go back to sleep. We didn't need an eavesdropper right now, especially not one in the form of my brother's best friend.

As the journey was starting to come to an end, the final hour beginning, my mind was constantly wandering off thinking about Jamie. Was he being treated okay? Did he blame me for what has happened? Was he even aware that Ryan had kidnapped him again? A tear slipped down my cheek as reality came crashing back down on me, the peaceful car journey over in an instant.

"I almost lost him once before, you know." I whispered into the darkness, my head leaning against the cold glass of the car window. I didn't even care if anybody responded, I just needed to speak my mind.

"When Ryan took him last time?" Carter questioned, still being the one driving.

"No... well, I suppose but deep down I knew Ryan wouldn't hurt Jamie last time," I closed my eyes, thinking about the actual time I was thinking about. "No, I once almost lost Jamie completely... he almost died." I glanced at Carter, who remained silent as I thought about the memory.

"I'm home!" I yelled into the house, shutting the front door behind me. I wasn't fully aware who would be home right now, but mum's car was in the drive so I knew that she was most likely here.

When I heard no reply, I went on the search to find my mother. After taking my shoes off and kicking them to the side, I wandered down our hallway and into the living room. Hope filled me for an instant, before seeing the expression on her face and realising that my real mother hadn't returned just yet... but tomorrow is a new day and maybe it will return to her then.

"Did you need something, Amelia?" She queried, not looking over her shoulder as she idly flicked through the magazine in hand.

"No," I barely whisper, scared to say how shit she was making me feel when she didn't have any memories of me. It wasn't her fault... she was doing surprisingly well given everything. "How was your day?"

"Oh, yeah, good. I went on a walk around the village this morning, sadly no memories, but it was a very nice walk. I can see why you picked this house to live in."

"And Jamie? How did it go with him? Wasn't it your first time picking him up from school today?" I pressed, desperate for more than just a nice walk.

"Yes, fine, Amelia. Don't worry. I was there on time and we came home, he insisted on playing with some lego thing and then I gave him a bath..."

"And then you gave him a bath and what?" I repeated, watching as she suddenly sat upright and stared at the wall in front of her.

"I... I don't remember getting him out of the bath..."

I launched myself upstairs and into the bathroom in seconds. My brain had barely even registered Jamie lying there still, I had not had time to process how far under he had gone or whether he was just playing. I had pulled him out and laid him on the floor, waiting for his response or his moan that I had ended his bath too soon. Jamie loves the bath. But, he didn't seem to be moving.