Picture is of Ozzy, he's a beaut :P curly hair, green eyes and tall, swoon! Hope you like the chapter...
By the time Monday rolls around, I’m actually looking forward to going back to uni and seeing Ozzy again and also trying to rekindle some of my previous friendships with people from my flat, as well as my course friends. After getting off the train with my small but heavy floral holdall of clothes and my laptop case with my laptop safely packed up inside, I follow the crowd of people heading, I hope, towards the centre of town, hoping to find my way back for myself. Unfortunately, I come to the conclusion that I am completely lost with no real sense of direction when people dissipate into several directions, and with no obvious signs to direct me to town, I go against the crowd and pull my phone out and call Ozzy. Resting against the side of a shop, I wait for a few moments, when he soon answers.
‘Hey Immy. Are you back yet?’
‘Yeah, and I’m lost. Want to come and find me?’ I ask hopefully, looking around at the number of countless faces walking by.
I hear him chuckle before asking, ‘Where do you think you are?’
I look around and then spot someone I recognise. ‘Actually, hold on a sec, Ozzy, I think I recognise someone. I’ll call you back in a bit.’ I hang the call up and then walk towards a bench where the boy I recognise from last week is sitting down with a few of his friends chatting away. As confidently as I can, I walk forward and offer a small smile. Thankfully, the boy recognises me and stands up with a wide smile to greet me.
‘Hello, Imogen,’ He checks as he greets me.
I nod, relieved he remembers my name. ‘Yes. And Leon, isn’t it?’ His mouth crinkles into a smile and he nods. ‘I’m so sorry, but can you help me out? I’m a bit lost.’
He looks back at his friends and gives them some sort of sign, before he nods in another direction. ‘So where are you heading to, Imogen?’ He looks down to my bags and raises an eyebrow at me, as if to check if he can carry my bags.
‘Oh, only if you’re sure,’ I respond, giving my heavy bags over before explaining, ‘Well I wanted to go back to my flat or to meet my boyfriend, but I don’t know where I am, where that is or where he is.’
He frowns at me and I realise he’s puzzled. ‘Sorry, I should explain a bit more. I’ve got amnesia, so I cannot remember anything before three weeks ago. I don’t remember anything about people or uni, so I’m trying to find my way around, but I’ve failed and got lost.’
‘Amnesia? Shit, that’s got to be hard,’ he says, almost apologetically. I shrug, before he asks, ‘Are you in halls or are you in your second or third year housing?’
‘I’m in my first year and am in halls, but I don’t know the name of it,’ I murmur back in embarrassment. ‘You know what, I’ll find my own way back. I could be here all day trying to find my way. Thank you though, Leon.’
I go to take my bags to leave, but he catches my wrist gently and stops me. I glance over my shoulder and see him smiling at me. ‘Imogen, it’s okay. I’ll help you get back. I’m not going to leave you. Let’s head to the library. Then maybe you could meet your friend from there?’
Relieved he isn’t about to leave me, I follow Leon through the town and across the many streets to the library. This is definitely a university that is spread across the time. Along the way, I ask Leon a bit about himself, rather than him asking me anything I can’t answer, which he must recognise as he doesn’t press me for the same answers. I find out that he’s in his second year and is from Somerset, which he explains is about three hours away. He was raised on a farm, as his dad is a retired farmer, which I find incredible exciting, whilst his mum works as a seamstress which equally interests me, and that he has two older sisters. He asks about how I found my lessons last week and how I’m getting on so far, rather than grilling me for questions he probably guesses I don’t know the answer to. He’s really attentive, actually, but before I know it, I’m stood in front of the big glass building which is the main library.
I look across at Leon as we stand outside the library and notice what he’s wearing for the first time since we stopped walking. He’s wearing plain jeans with scuffed converses and a checked shirt, covered with a dark brown jumper and a black rucksack slung low on his back with music sheets peeking out from the top. His light brown hair is a little scruffy from the wind and yet he looks well put together. ‘Thanks for getting me this far. I’ll call Ozzy so he can come and find me.’
He gives me a half hearted smile, but says, ‘I’ll wait with you until he gets here; keep you company.’ He runs his hand through his hair, before gesturing to the nearby purple sofa to sit on. I sit down beside him, cursing myself for wearing shorts seeing as my legs are so exposed now. Fishing for my phone out of my large tote bag, I type a quick message to tell Ozzy where I am, before looking back at Leon.
‘How’s your music going?’ I ask, remembering our first meeting.
His eyes seem to perk up when I mention this and he smiles. ‘Great, thanks. Recitals went well last week. I’m currently song writing, actually.’
‘That’s so cool!’ I say excitedly. Song writing must take a lot of talent. On the way back to uni, I delved into the music that is stored on my iPhone and I think I’m slowly discovering my own taste in music again. ‘What do you write about?’ I ask, intrigued.
He looks across at me and says with a smirk, ‘Lots of things. Life, love, stuff like that.’
‘What’s your favourite one?’ I probe.
‘Um, one called Adjusting Sails. It’s about pursuing dreams and ambition, I guess. It pretty much wrote itself in an afternoon.’
‘You’re so talented to be able to song-write,’ I compliment, truly inspired by him. ‘I’d love to hear them.’
‘Maybe I’ll play you some one day,’ he tells me with a grin, but then tenses up. I look in the direction he’s looking in to see what is wrong, and spot Ozzy walking through the library doors, speaking on his phone. He waves at me as he approaches, before he hangs up just as he’s close enough to me. I stand up to greet him and he immediately pulls me into a hug, his arms circling my waist and gently rubbing at my waist as he murmurs into my hair, ‘You should have called me first, Immy. This would have saved this wild goose chase for you.’
I pull back to look at Ozzy, but see he’s not looking at me but at Leon as I say, ‘I did call you, but I wanted to find my way back.’ I turn back Leon who has stood up and add, ‘Leon got me this far, anyway.’
Ozzy nods tightly, whilst looking at Leon, before saying, ‘Very chivalrous of you.’ Leon hands me back my bags as Ozzy grabs my free hand, before leading me off, barely giving me time to say goodbye to Leon. Frowning, I tug at my hand out of his grasp.
‘Slow down, Ozzy, there’s no hurry. You should have let me say thank you,’ I chide, trying to keep up with you.
‘I’m sure he knows you’re thankful,’ he mutters as he pulls me along. ‘Let’s just head back to yours.’
We don’t speak much on the way back, a tension coming from Ozzy’s side more than my own, but once we’re in my room, he seems to have relaxed a little more. Pouting, I sit down beside him, wanting to know what’s fussed him. ‘What’s wrong with you? Are you okay?’
‘Fine, yeah,’ he shrugs, before meeting my gaze. He lifts his hand to my cheek and gently caresses it. His fingers gently press against the apples of cheeks, before he exhales a long sigh. ‘Shall we have our date tonight?’
‘Well if you perk up, then yeah,’ I tell him, hoping to lighten the mood. I don’t exactly want this proper date to be solemn and moody. ‘What’s got into you?’
He looks away from me and shakes his head. ‘Nothing. I’ll leave you to get ready. Dress up nice, yeah? I want to take you somewhere special.’
‘Are we eating out?’
He nods as he stands up and picks his phone up from my desk. ‘Yeah, we’ll go to a restaurant and have some proper quality couple time.’
As he leaves my room, without so much as a lingering hug, I have an overwhelming feeling of confusion. I am a bit puzzled by his sudden turn in behaviour. What’s got into him? The annoying thing is before the fall, I would at least know these triggers before his mood changes. Now it’s a complete guessing game.
As soon as Blake comes back to the flat from wherever she’s been, I literally jump out on her to ask her for some outfit advice. Blake is excited when I tell her I’m going on a date with Ozzy tonight and drops her bags before ascending into my room and opening my wardrobe.
‘This will be so good for you both, especially since, you know, since your memory isn’t back yet,’ she tells me bluntly.
I can see Blake wish to take her words back as she says them, but I nod. It’s true. It doesn’t look like it’s coming back anytime soon and I think this is bothering more people than just myself. ‘I think I’m going to book my counselling session. I’ve been delaying starting them, but I probably should try it out.’
She looks in my direction and sends me a sympathetic smile. ‘Yeah, it’ll definitely help you. You book it through student union services. Do you want me to help you do it now?’
I nod eagerly and we go into Blake’s room, where her laptop is already left open. I sit on her bed, swinging my legs back and forth, before she logs in using my details, which my mum helpfully wrote down for me. I don’t think I would have found out how to navigate my way around the university site. Soon enough, Blake has booked me in for a 11am appointment with one of the counsellors, whilst copying the details to my head of year to keep them in the loop about the support I’m getting.
After booking that, we go back into my room to resume dress hunting, with Blake pulling some of my dresses out of my wardrobe and spins around, showing me her choice. ‘Ozzy will love you in a tight dress. Choose which one.’
I look at the black dress and then the purple one, but opt for black one, which is nicely fitted with a nice neckline and is asymmetrically shorter on my right side.
Blake continues to forage through my other draws and pulls out a strapless black bra and I see her chuckle as she chucks me a flimsy piece of underwear over her head. Blushing brightly, I throw it back at her. ‘Blake! I’m not wearing that.’
She laughs, before falling back on my bed and saying, ‘I bet Ozzy is twitching every time he sees you.’
I narrow my eyes at her, but let the words sink in. ‘Do you really think he is?’
She nods, seriously. ‘Yeah, it’s coming up to month now, right? He won’t rush you, don’t worry, but believe me he wants to ravish you.’
‘Blake!’ I moan. ‘Don’t say things like that. We’ve not even kissed yet.’
Her eyes widen. ‘Really? Oh God, Imo. You’ve not kissed him since you’ve woken up? I didn’t know that.’
Twisting my lips anxiously, I sit beside Blake on my bed. ‘I know he wants to, so hopefully, it’ll feel right for it to happen tonight. He was a little off earlier on though.’
‘Why? What happened?’
I sit down on my bed next to her and explain, ‘I don’t know, he was just off, I guess. I wanted to find my own way back and he said I shouldn’t have made him go on a wild goose chase for me. I don’t even know what that means,’ I add with a small laugh. ‘So I don’t know if he’ll want to kiss me anyway.’
‘Do you want it to happen?’ She questions carefully.
I shoot her a look, but Blake probably knows me better than I know myself. ‘You’re nervous,’ she guesses. When I don’t respond, she grabs my hand and says, ‘Don’t be. It’ll feel so natural when you kiss him.’
I don’t return her statement with the fact that I’m not sure I even want to kiss Ozzy yet. Kissing, well I don’t know how that is pleasurable. From the few kisses I saw in the film we watched the other night, it doesn’t look as romantic as it’s made out to be.
Regardless, two hours later, I hear a knock at my door. Opening it widely, thinking it’s Blake, I’m shocked to see its Ozzy standing there. He grins widely when he sees me and scans my body up and down, his eyes widening as he takes in what I’m wearing. Pursing my lips together, I glance up at him and he takes my hand and kisses my hand, cooing, ‘You look beautiful.’
He pulls me close to his body and embraces me in his arms, giving me a warm hug before I grab my bag. ‘Bring your leather jacket to keep you warm. It’ll look nice too.’
After putting my jacket on, Ozzy takes my right hand in his and locks my door for me. I follow him out of the building, where he casually wraps his arm around my lower back as we cross the road. I can tell we’re heading into town, which is a bit of a relief. I want to get to know the town a little more so soon I’ll be able to go there alone without relying on someone. Soon enough, we’re outside a restaurant I’ve not heard of. I look up at Ozzy before looking at the sign, hoping it jogs a memory.
‘Why here?’
‘You’ll see,’ he tells me with a grin.
Once we’re seated, the waiter produces a menu for us, though I can’t help but notice that Ozzy is more interested in my dress or rather cleavage than the menu. I place the menu in front of my body and Ozzy looks up at me and smirks. ‘Sorry. You just look stunning tonight. Shall I tell you why we’re here?’
I nod, as I peruse through the menu.
‘We had our first dinner date at the same chain of restaurants in Australia.’
‘Ah and now we’re having ours here. Tell me, did it end well?’ I ask with lightness to my voice and a smile on my face, before we order our drinks.
This seems to peak his interest and he nods. ‘Very well. After our meal, we went to the beach and we were boyfriend and girlfriend by the end of the evening. We fell that quickly.’
When he says this, I feel a little shocked I fell so easily for Ozzy in Australia. Did I really fall that hard and fast for someone? And if I did, why am I still not anywhere near that with Ozzy now, despite it coming up to a month? Sure, we’re getting closer, but it’s a very, very slow moving process.
I awkwardly shift in my seat, before ordering something to eat. I can feel Ozzy’s gaze on me as he asks, ‘What’s up?’
‘I just, dunno, I’m surprised I feel so quickly and so hard.’
‘Charming, Immy,’ he tells me with sparkling eyes, before actually pondering what I’ve said. He takes a sip of his beer before saying, ‘I don’t hold it against you. I get that things are different now, so we’ll just take it slow.’
The waiter returns our drinks and takes our order before leaving us to continue our conversation. ‘Blake was talking earlier on, she kind of made me realise that going slow must be hard for you,’ I admit.
Ozzy practically spits out his drink as I say this. He places the glass down on the table and widens his eyes. ‘What? Why did she say that?’
‘Well she’s right though, isn’t she? We’ve not done anything and-‘
‘Stop there, Immy. Don’t listen to Blake talking shit. Sure, we had a pretty active sex life, but I’m not with you for sex. I’m with you because I am completely in love with you. There is so much I love about you, Immy that I would be here all day listing it.’
I don’t say anything; hearing him say he’s in love with me hammers straight through my heart again. Taking a gulp of my drink, I place the glass back down and twist my lips, not sure how to respond.
Ozzy doesn’t let me sit in an awkward silence for long, but fills it, saying, ‘Immy, all that matters is you want to try with us. I don’t care how long it takes us, if you never get your memory back, I don’t care, but I’m not going to rush you.’
‘I know you won’t. And anyway, I’ve got a counselling session tomorrow.’
His eyes flit back to me and he sends me a look I can’t unpick. ‘What’s it for?’
‘To deal with the memory loss, I guess. I don’t know. The hospital suggested I go to counselling to help, so I’m going to try. I’ve put it off for this long.’
‘Do you think you need help?’ He questions, almost suspiciously.
‘I’ll find out tomorrow, I guess,’ I respond.
For the rest of the evening, we avoid the deep memory chat which we’re not quite ready to deal with and focus on other things instead, which is a lot easier to deal with. After our meal, I suggest for Ozzy to come back to my room and stay over, as I’m not quite ready for the date to be over. I want us to keep talking, because the more we keep talking, the more relaxed Ozzy seems to be around me.
‘How’s our date going so far then?’ He asks me, taking off his jacket and shoes off, placing them on my desk chair.
Flopping on the bed as I take off the same, I tell him truthfully. ‘You’re doing pretty well.’ Ozzy lies beside me and holds my hand between our bodies. I prop myself up on my arm and looking down at the scruffy haired boy and smirk.
‘You’re rather handsome, aren’t you?’
He laughs as I say this and says, ‘Incredibly so. Are you saying you find me attractive then?’
I shake my head, teasingly, ‘No, I just said you’re handsome, doesn’t mean I find you attractive.’
The smile on his face erupts as I say this. ‘You so do. Whenever you were drunk enough, you’d always tell me how gorgeous you thought I was.’
Throughout the evening, I discovered that there have been many countless nights where I’ve enjoyed one too many drinks and ended up doing some embarrassing things. I’m not quite ready to start drinking again; I’m quite content with just drinking lemonade on nights out.
‘Did you pay me the same compliment?’ I ask with a smile, already predicting the answer.
He wrinkles his nose at me. ‘Occasionally,’ he begins, before adding. ‘All the time, baby.’ He looks down at my lips, long and hard before turning his head and exhaling deeply, a groan escaping his lips. ‘I really want to kiss you right now.’
My breath catches in my throat as he admits this, but I listen as he adds, ‘But if I’m meant to sleep in the same bed as you tonight, I don’t think we should. Can we just sleep?’
‘We can just sleep,’ I reply, putting his mind at ease, as well as mine.
And that is all we do, after brushing my teeth, I change into some sleep wear and Ozzy into his own, revealing that he has his own draw in my room, which I had failed to discover on my own. As I settle in my bed, Ozzy sets my laptop up with a TV series we apparently used to watch together, before lying beside me in bed. And just like last time, Ozzy doesn’t snuggle with me, but merely takes my left hand in his right, as we sit in silence, watching my laptop and waiting for each of us to fall asleep after an eventful day back at university.