"What are you doing here?" Corey asked as Sophie appeared in the garage.
It had only been a day since both him and Aaron had been allowed to leave the hospital however, they were instantly back to work. They wanted to help Jack out as much as possible and they knew twenty-six year old Jack would not appreciate the garage being out of business whether he was suffering with amnesia or not.
"I dropped Aaron off. He can't drive." She laughed.
"Of course you did." Corey mocked, attempting to get back to work but being prevented by Sophie.
Making her way around to stand in front of him, her hand was placed against his chest.
"Uh uh, no you don't." She warned in reference to him turning his back to her. "What's up with you?"
"Nothing." He shrugged his shoulders like a sulking four-year-old child.
"Well that's obviously bullshit."
As Corey continued to get back to what he was doing, Sophie wasn't prepared to give up. When he attempted to open the car door, she slammed it shut; when he tried to open the hood of the car, she sat on it. She wasn't going to accept his silence and would continue to bug him until he gave in.
"You're so fucking annoying." He rolled his eyes while she just looked back at him with a challenging expression over her face.
Then just as he began backing up to find another job to do, Sophie reached for his shirt and pulled him towards her.
"Tell me what has your face all wrinkled and pissed off."
Looking back at her, she managed to hold his gaze for a good few seconds before he looked away.
"Where did you go yesterday morning? I woke up and you weren't there."
Corey didn't even give Sophie time to respond because he already knew, he was just attempting to make a point.
"To Aaron's room, right? The nurse told me."
Nodding her head, Sophie looked completely unfazed causing Corey just to walk away.
"Wait, that's why you're pissed?" Sophie threw her hands out as she began following him.
She had been expecting something else to come out of his mouth, thinking that was the start to the story, which would lead to his problem, not the start, middle and end.
"Are you seriously pissed off because I went to see Aaron?"
"Did you two have a good time last night too? It looked like you did." Corey then remarked, in reference to the photos he had seen of the pair on both of their social media's.
"Did you want an invite or something?" Sophie sarcastically responded considering Corey still hadn't come out and openly explained why it bothered him.
"Oh fuck off, Soph." He exasperated, yet again trying to walk away from her but her hand ran up his back, grazing against his skin under his t-shirt.
"That's cute." She laughed. "Is Corey actually jealous?!"
As he turned around, her hand moved to the front of his body, her touch being enough to already start the process of forgiveness, no words necessary.
"You do know he has a girlfriend right? He's playing you."
Shrugging her shoulder, Sophie just smugly smiled up at him.
"Corey Ellis actually feels something. He has emotions! Damn." Sophie continued to tease him, causing him to get defensive.
He didn't like that idea being thrown around, especially by Sophie herself.
"Not true." He remarked, letting Sophie's hands make their way around his neck and urge him closer.
"So this doesn't mean anything to you?" She questioned before pressing her lips to his. "Nothing at all?" She asked again before repeating the actions. "You're completely emotionless?"
Trying to continue the kiss, Corey tried to pull Sophie closer yet she pulled away.
"It means nothing." He replied yet his whispering voice was not convincing.
Trailing his fingers along the skin just above her jeans, his lips hovered over her once again.
"Okay!" Sophie perked, instantly pulling away, causing his hand to drop from her; leaving him frustrated and on the edge of going insane.
"Have a good day at work." She continued and began walking away, before he did just as she expected.
"Soph, wait." He called over to her and she slowly turned around. "What are you doing tonight?"
"Um...." She trailed off, pretending to seriously think about it.
"To mine it is then." Corey answered it for her and he received just one look from Sophie before she began walking away once again.
**
continued...
It had been a few days since Jack had begun the therapy that was going to try to help him recollect his memories. It was a process that could happen on it's own due to the way in which it had been caused but the extra support had been put in place to provide a higher chance in it happening.
Jess had found the past few days tough. One minute she had been sat at home looking after their children and then the next minute she was being told that her husband had lost all his memories of the past seven years.
She'd been by Jack's side every single step of the way, not giving up and trying her utmost hardest to stay strong for his sake. She had persevered and continued to sit and talk to him about everything, trying to urge him into reliving many events in his life.
There obviously was no way anyone could force the memories back into him but now he had come to terms that something was wrong, he wanted to know everything. He was desperate to work with Jess and the doctors to become the man he had completely lost.
"This way." Jess guided Jack through the house.
He had finally been allowed to come home as the idea of being back in his usual environment could help him recall everything he had lost.
Jess had been so excited at the thought of him being home again. She knew it wouldn't be the same and he wouldn't be viewing things how she was, but the fact he was coming home was all that mattered.
"What are we doing?" Jack laughed, following her yet taking a moment to process every part of the house that he passed.
He was in awe by what he had been presented with when they arrived home. Amazed that nineteen-year-old Jack had managed to get his act together and become a both successful and loving man.
"I want to show you something."
Finally reaching a bedroom which Jack assumed was their own, he took in the sight around him where Jess had laid out memory after memory in a beautiful arrangement around the room.
There were a collection of photos alongside drawings from the kids and even a collection of videos playing in the background on their TV.
While the doctors had been preparing Jack at the hospital to come home, Jess had spent her afternoon trying to bring together Jack's life all in one place. She wanted him to be consumed with memories but in a loving and not overbearing way.
She had even made the effort to include photos from his childhood, leading up to his nineteen year old self so he felt more comfortable in what he was seeing. Viewing the timeline from birth to the man he didn't know existed meant he had some familiarity with part of the story.
Walking over to where the photos began, Jack began examining one by one appreiciating the memories that he did have and the things he did remember from the photos placed before him. There were some sprawled out from his school days and some of him hanging around at his parents' house with Connor and Sophie. There were more of the nights he spent out with the guys from the garage and more from the apartment himself and Elliot owned.
These were all things he remembered and all things he could smile at because they only felt like yesterday to him. However, moving on further was when it became to feel unfamiliar. There were photos of the apartment him and Jess both shared, photos of children he had recently met that happened to be his own and photos of his friends all looking much more grown up.
It wasn't until now that it became real to him. That the memories he had lost did exist and none of this had been a lie. He was able to accept the situation for what it was and accept the fact that a crash had caused him to lose a collection of things that had meant the world to him.
No one knows what it feels like to be in that position until they experience it. You don't only lose you memories but you also lose your identity and that can be the most painful experience to go through.
Noticing the discomfort in Jack, Jess made her way over to him and placed a hand on his back. Gliding hers up and under his shirt so she was touching his damaged skin, Jack pulled her into his side and she let her body be shielded by his own.
They both just stood there for a few moments while they looked down to all the photos and Jess could feel Jack's body relaxing by the second.
His hand was running up and down her arm, sending shivers through her own body yet he looked calm.
"What about the wedding photos?" Jack then asked as he turned to look down at Jess. "Do we have any of them?"
He had noticed that the timeline had been set up immaculately but even though he didn't remember the majority of it, he knew what was missing. One of the most crucial aspects of their life had been left out and he was confused as to why.
"Yeah..." She nodded. "I just didn't know if that would be a bit too overwhelming."
She knew nineteen-year-old Jack would run from marriage so she had tried not to talk about it too much. She wanted to ease memories back into him slowly and not throw the most daunting ones at him in full force.
"I can get them if you want though?"
"No, no it's fine." Jack began shaking his head and as much as Jess understood, it hurt a little to hear.
However, Jack's intentions to not seeing them were not what Jess thought and instead he moved away from the photos and placed his full attention on Jess.
"In the mind frame I'm in now, the idea of marriage is extremely crazy. It would definitely not be on my list of priorities but it's crazy how not so scary it seems. It feels strangely right and I'm finding that difficult to get my head around."
The words that Jack was speaking were clear proof that his twenty-six year old self was still present. Even though in the forefront of his mind marriage was not something he would have considered, the man deeper inside knew it was all he ever wanted with the woman stood in front of him.
"So in case I never get my memories back about that day, I don't want to relive it through photos... I want to relive it through experience."
By this point Jess was looking up at Jack in awe at how well he was coping but also nerves, confused as to where he was going with this.
"Even though what I'm about to say was seven years ago, in my mind it was only a matter of months and it actually means something." Jack began, also looking just as nervous. "When we first got together, Elliot didn't believe me when I said it was different with you. He was adamant that I was bullshitting and you were going to be like the many other girls I spent my time with. But because emotionally I felt so different about you I wanted to prove him wrong."
By this point, Jack was digging into his jeans pocket to pull something out yet Jess' face was still watching his intently as he spoke.
"I made a deal with him and said that I would go out and buy a ring. I said that when the time was right, whether it be months or years I would propose and do the whole marriage thing... so that's what I did." The thing he had reached for in his pocket was now held in his scrunched up hand. "It's clear now that when I did decide to propose that this was a piece of cheap crap, so I must have gone out and got a new one..." He continued and it was now that he held up a ring in front of Jess.
She had never seen it in her life; never even realised that it existed.
"But amazingly Elliot still had it lying around in a box of my old stuff from our apartment... and I wanted to relive a moment I wish I had never forgotten because I know it would have been one of the most nerve-wracking but also happiest."
As Jack got down on one knee, Jess felt a rush of butterflies throughout her as she caught on with what was happening. She felt sick with love for this man as she watched him look up at her with the cheekiest grin over his face.
He didn't realise, but he looked the exact same way he did when he had proposed the first time and that made every emotion in her peak.
"Jessica Lawrence..." He began, raising his eyebrows teasingly at the way her name sounded coming from his lips. "I love you... so so much."
Her hand was held in his as Jack's thumb ran soothingly over her fingers.
"I want to relive every moment of the past seven years with you and continue to create even more of those memories in the future. I want to be able to experience marriage in every form because even though I don't remember a single day of it, I can easily guess how amazing it must be."
Jack was smiling; smiling the biggest Jess had seen him smile since the crash.
"So will you... take this ring and my name and continue to be the most incredible wife I'm sure you have been these past three years."
With very little ability to speak due to the tears welling up in her eyes, Jess nodded her head as she bit down on her lip.
"Yes. Yes." She whispered and that was all the conformation Jack needed to place the ring that confident nineteen-year-old Jack had purchased on her finger.
Even in the mind frame of a teen with only memories of this relationship having been ongoing for a year, Jack knew he loved Jess. He knew that this woman who shared his surname and was the mother of his children, was the person he wanted to have stood by him for the rest of his life.
Whether he got his memories back or not didn't matter because he was confident in both Jess' and the children's love for him, that confirmed how happy twenty-six year old Jack had truly been.
**
thank you for reading!!! :D