6 •July 4•

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I wake up the next morning only to see Em sitting on the edge of my bed, texting someone on her phone.

I groan and sit up. "Why is it when I wake up, there's always someone sitting on my bed?"

"I slept over last night, you ding dong."

"Oh yeah," I sigh, remembering. "Listen, I have to ask you something... about the dreams I've been having."

She looks down at the ground nervously. "Um, yeah sure?" She says, more as a question than a statement.

"I had this dream about this guy... only I can't make out his face. He was my boyfriend." I look at her but she refuses to meet my gaze.

"Um...." She looks down at the ground, and I can tell by the way her breathing has become more rapid that there's something she doesn't want me to know.

"Please tell me," I beg. "I need to know about my past."

She sighs, then hesitates before saying, "It had to have been Ben, he's the only guy you've ever dated..."

"Ben... you mean ... the guy who cheated on me."

"You remember him?"

I sigh. "I remembered something about him when I saw a picture of Tabby on Instagram. He was my boyfriend, right? And then he cheated on me with Tabby, and we broke up. And then Tabby for whatever reason was upset that I wasn't mad at her for it, so she tried to ruin my life."

Em nods, slowly. "He's like the only guy you've ever dated, and I mean, he broke your heart, so I didn't want to bring him up when you mentioned your dream, because I didn't want you to remember and get upset." She frowns.

"But I loved Ben, didn't I?" I say, remembering the last part of my dream last night.

"I don't know, maybe." She shrugs. "If he's important enough for you to have dreams about him, even after what he did to you. Any other memories, besides Ben and Tabby?"

I smile. "One memory of us at the mall. You didn't know we could shop at Forever 21." I laugh.

She groans. "Don't remind me, that was the single most embarrassing moment of my life."

"I highly doubt that."

"Well, yeah. It was way more embarrassing when my period leaked on that date with Joe." She laughs, but her cheeks are turning red at the memory of it.

"That sounds awful." I shake my head, but can't help the smile beginning to form on my face.

Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

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July 14, 2015

We just moved into our apartment in Manhattan. We decided to move in early, because we couldn't wait to live in the city.

Emmerson just went out for a coffee run (we have a long night of unpacking ahead of us) and I'm emptying out my suitcase when I hear a knock at our door.

I look through the peephole and see none other than Luke Hemmings.

I open up the door, smirking. "Couldn't stay away from me, could ya? As soon as I get to the city, here you are."

"Yeah yeah." He walks right past me into our apartment. "I brought a housewarming gift." He sets a bouquet of roses on the table.

I shut the door behind me. "Um, thanks?"

"You're welcome."

"So, why are you here? I mean, not to be rude, but.. I don't even know you."

"Exactly, that's what I'm trying to fix. Now that you're in New York, I can see you more often. So I'm going to make the most of it."

My mind flashes back to that dream I had a few weeks ago.

"So," he looks down at me, his smile fading. "You leave tomorrow."

"Yeah," I feel myself sigh.

"We have to make the most of tonight." He grabs my hand under the table.

I nod, looking up at him, before saying the three words I never thought I would say.

"I love you."

But that was a memory of me and Ben. It couldn't have been Luke.

I snap out of my trance when I see a hand waving in front of my face.

"You okay?" Luke asks me, concern evident in his face.

I nod. "I just haven't gotten very much sleep lately, and I- I think you should just leave."

His smile drops. "You have no desire to be friends with me, do you? I'm just some insignificant person from your past."

I wince. It's kind of true, actually. I just feel really bad about it, so I lie.

"That's not it, it's just... now's not a good time. Maybe next week."

"Okay, but you're not changing your mind about this. We will hang out next week, okay?"

I reluctantly nod as he leans in for hug, but stops when he notices how I'm tensing up.

He awkwardly pulls back. "Just- here." He reaches over on our table and grabs a pen and a little slip of paper, then proceeds to write his phone number on it.

He sort of cringes when he hands it to me, as if he hates how desperate he seems.

"Please, just- just call me." His voice cracks as he walks out the door.

I shut the door behind him, leaning against it for a few seconds, before I make a split second decision.

I fling open the door and run down the hall just as Luke steps onto the elevator, obviously crying.

I hold the door open and run inside, grinning.

"Unpacking can wait until tomorrow."

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HA YOU ALL THOUGHT IT WAS LUKE IN HER DREAMS DIDN'T YOU

plot twist am i right

well anyways i'm really excited for y'all to read the next chapter i have big plans:)))))

later losers

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