Two weeks later
"We're here!"
I open my eyes and find myself back into reality when I hear Jenna by my side. A smile crisscrosses her face in such a cute way I feel happy for her, but then I remember that I left the hospital three hours ago, and I'm not feeling that good, to be honest.
I look around me, overwhelmed for a second: we're still inside Jenna's car (apparently it's also my car), the same car we hoped inside and left the hospital in a hurry with at least ten black cars following our lead. The car is parked outside a big house that appears new to my eyes, and is also very pretty, in fact.
"Where are we?" I ask, trying to remember what Jenna said to me as soon as we left.
"Our house." Jenna opens the door by her side and slips out of the car. "Very pretty, isn't it?"
I nod, but I don't move. It's cold outside (or at least it's cold for me, because Jenna seems to take it very good) so I wait a while inside. Around us I see shades of green and yellow and a lot of pretty colors, similar to those I saw while we're on the road. Trees and bushes and other cars decorated my field of view, and if you tilted your head up you would see shades of blue and white (sky and clouds, and so far the most pretty things I have seen). It was beautiful outside, so beautiful it was almost confusing, and for a moment I ask myself: "where am I?"
"Ty," Jenna leans over my side and opens the door. "do you need help to get out?"
"I'm okay." I say, hoping my legs think the same way. "I'll stay here a while."
Jenna nods but doesn't move away. She's worried, I can see it in her eyes, but I don't say anything because I don't want to see her cry again.
I'm so happy to be outside that for a moment I forget about my "condition". Days ago, at the hospital, a man in a long, white coat said I might have trouble moving because my legs were in so much pain and it was horrible; so I had to stick around to a lady that helped me move them again. Several sessions later I was able to "walk" without having to grab her arm or any other object and it was something that made everyone proud. No more sad faces, and I was glad they turned their frowns upside down. Now I'm able to move smoothly but sometimes my knees decide to go all dizzy and I have to ask Jenna for help, even if it's embarrassing.
I look around me and my eyes catch Jenna's impatient look. I shot her a grin and with the help of my hands and stuff I get out of the car in less than a minute. Woohoo, new record!
"See?" I say, waiting for her lips to curve into a smile. "I did it alone."
Jenna's lips stay still for so long that I worry she may be concerned, but instead she leans over me and kisses my cheek. That's a gesture I have seen her do a lot to other people, but is the first time she does it with me. Yes, of course she has tried to before but has hesitated a lot of times and decided it's a bad idea, and I have no idea why. Maybe is because she thinks I'm made of glass and she's afraid I might break or something. I don't know, I'm starting to question a lot of things everyone around me does.
"Let's get inside." Jenna says, and behind her sunglasses I can picture her cheekbones going all red. "Your family will arrive at any second."
For a second I forgot they were coming too. I haven't accepted them as my family yet because they're simply way to annoying and loud. In fact, everyone seems very annoying and loud, even those girls that I swear I saw outside the hospital that Jenna told me I should avoid (I don't know why, I don't ask many questions either). Everyone, except Jenna, of course. She's the only one that really seems to care about me.
"But," I start and I find myself blushing too. "you're my family."
"Uh, yeah, but they're your parents, and they love you too." She says and turns her head around so I can't see her, and we start walking towards the house. "Anyway, you're going to love the house. Trust me. It has a lot of... pretty things. I can cook something if you want to, or we can go out to eat. Whatever you like."
As she talks, my eyes move nervously around the house, examining every detail as sharp as glass shards. I don't doubt it, it's a very pretty house, but there's something weird about it, something I can't describe, something very familiar, but I don't know why; and as soon as we're inside it hits me.
I have been here before.
~
It has been a long day, and I have had to survive through it with a painful headache and the feeling of not belonging somewhere.
Let me list the disappointing and incredible things that have happened since we arrived to our house:
1) My "parents" arrived as soon as Jenna and I sat down on a comfy couch and they didn't even let me have an official tour around the house. They just came with Zack and the others and sat down and tried to talk to me but I ignored them as always. Yes, it was hostile but is not my fault that I haven't get used to them yet. At least Jenna cooked some nice cupcakes that spelled the word "welcome!" and everyone finally stopped talking for one second and ate the cupcakes in silence. The only words I heard in that moment came from my mom admiring Jenna's cooking skills, and for the first time I agreed with her. Jenna's really good, I'm lucky to be her husband.
2) Everything seems so familiar, but I can't remember when or why or how. I have something in my chest that is eating me up, something that is trying to crawl its way out, more like a feeling. A feeling of nostalgia, I guess; but I'm not sure why I feel nostalgic for a place I have never seen before.
3) In the middle of the shitty reunion I asked permission to go to the bathroom, even though I didn't need to go, I just needed to get out of there; so Jenna took me to a small bathroom near the living room and I locked myself there, taking a few breaths before getting out again. I came across the window and I stayed still, my eyes on my reflection, and I realized I was kind of good looking. Believe me or not, I haven't seen myself before, my brain couldn't picture the shape of my face or my head in general, but when I saw myself for the first time I saw a lot of features that indeed made me feel surprised: squishy eyes, round nose, dry lips, a tan (it was hard to find it at first because my skin is still kind of pale) and brown hair that was almost as short as my patience. Oh, and last but not least a long scar in my forehead. I wonder how I got that mark, because I don't remember it either.
But now everything is silence. My family is gone and only Jenna and I remain. This is exactly what I wanted in first place, and I'm glad I survived all of this without having a breakdown.
We sit on the couch again and I feel Jenna's hand on mine. I don't even flinch at her touch.
"So..." She gives me a dorky smile and her eyes shine with relief. "your parents are pretty nice. Aren't they?"
I shrug and bury my face on her shoulder. We have never cuddled before; when I tried to hug her while I was at the hospital she would shake her head and flinch a little. I was confused back then, but lately she has have more confident around me - and vice versa - so I don't think a little hug will hurt any of us.
"I wish you could spend some time with them a little more." Jenna whispers and strokes my almost-non-existent hair. "They're really good people. And your siblings too."
I remember Zack's appearance the first time I saw him and I gulp. Yeah, maybe they're nice, but some of them freak me out. I close my eyes and listen to our calmed, slow heartbeats, thinking about how nice it feels to not have an annoying beep coming from a monitor destroy your eardrums. I let myself drift into sleep.
But then Jenna shakes me off. "I almost forgot! You haven't seen the house yet."
"I saw the kitchen." I mumble, kind of annoyed that she woke me up. "It was beautiful. Oh, and the bathroom is exquisite."
Jenna laughs and I laugh with her. I remember hearing the word "exquisite" in the hospital when one of the nurses brought a big plate of food to my room and encouraged me to eat it by using that word. Nurses can be weird some times, you know.
"Oh, please, Tyler." She stands up and waits for me to follow her moves. "You haven't seen the second floor. You're going to love our room, by the way."
I nod and we both go upstairs. She gives me a quick tour but I'm too tired to pay attention, maybe tomorrow I'll do a tour by my own. I weakly hear Jenna mention something about a garage, and I add that to my to-do-list-when-I'm-no-longer-taken-by-sleep (an statement I find familiar too).
Finally we arrive to our room and without thinking it twice I lay down on the king sized bed and Jenna giggles.
"I knew you were going to love it." She sits down next to me. "Listen Tyler, maybe we shouldn't go so fast and try to sleep on separate beds, just so you can get used to i-"
"No." Here we go again. "I want to sleep here. With you. You're my wife, Jenna."
Jenna goes all red and I cover my mouth to drown a laugh. She bites her lip and strokes her hair.
"I mean, yes, but all of this may feel weird to you. So I'm taking it slow."
I shake my head and Jenna mumbles a soft "screw it" and lays down next to me. We both stare at the pastel-colored ceiling, illuminated only by a soft bedside lamp that I didn't realize was turned on. I sigh with such tranquility I feel like smiling like a dork and laugh and just lay down there until I fall asleep, with Jenna by my side. All of these things are so pretty, I still can't believe I used to live here.
In another weird timeline I don't have memories of.
My smile fades away as soon as that feeling of nostalgia knocks my chest. Why can't I remember all of these? What's wrong with me? Why can't I find any answers? I feel like panicking now, and Jenna seems to have noticed me breathing heavily because she opens her eyes as wide as her cupcakes from this evening.
If she wanted to say something she can't do it now, because someone just knocked to our door. I hold my breath and sit up, staring at Jenna. She looks so puzzled is almost funny, and with her eyes she mentally asks me if I heard that sound too - which I effectively heard.
"I SWEAR if it's another neighbor asking for a photo I'm calling the police." She says and stands up with a small jump. I watch her go and turn around to face me. "Be right back."
Jenna blows a small kiss in my direction and for a second I feel better. How exciting! We have neighbors too. Who would have guessed?
I hear Jenna walking downstairs and drifting to the door. She waits a few seconds and opens the door before letting out a gasp that makes me shiver even though I'm far away.
"What are you doing here?" She seems surprised, but I'm more surprised over the fact that she's very good at holding it together. "And what on earth are you wearing?"
I feel curiosity running down my veins. Who would come this late to our house and surprise Jenna this way? Could it be my parents again? No, she's referring to one person. Zack? Uh, I don't think so. So who?
"You have my drum kit in your garage, Jenna." Wait, I recognize that voice. "I might need it in case someone actually needs me to do something useful."
"Oh, please. Don't be upset about that." I can imagine Jenna rolling her eyes. "Mark already warned you."
"I'm not here for your husband."
"Be quiet." Jenna whispers but I still understand what she's saying. "He's upstairs."
Ha! Not anymore. I already started going downstairs. But as soon as I hear Jenna say that I instantly regret what I'm doing. Out the corner of my eye I see Jenna at the door with the strange visitor; his yellow (yes, yellow) hair flops on his face in a tidy way and his eyes are small. He's wearing a beanie and a simple black tee with no sleeves at all and I wonder how hasn't he frozen yet. He catches me looking at him and his face relaxes; but Jenna, on the other hand, gasps even harder.
He grins and I see him tense. "Oh, hello there, Tyler."
I grin back, bewildered by the way he looks. So different from that day at the hospital, the day when I thought he was a total crybaby. I walk towards them, ready to face him.
"Hey, Josh."