There comes a time where life really does truly feel like it's punching you in the face.
You're scaling a mountainside. You're saving up for a new car. You're studying hard for exams.
Life seems great. The hope that you feel is so, so SO addicting. For the longest time - you feel happy and hopeful. The light at the end of the tunnel is approaching rapidly and you're sprinting to get to it. The wind is in your hair, your vision's blurry from the tears of happiness, and you feel free. Ecstatic.
Until it turns out the light at the end of the tunnel's in reality an approaching train and it hits you head on.
The safety harness snaps and you plummet a hundred meters to your death. Your house gets robbed and all your money's gone. It turns out you studied for the wrong exam.
All that. At the exact same time
Is how I was feeling right now.
I felt the world spin as I tried to let the facts sink in.
"...You don't remember me?" I managed to splutter. He just blinked, not reacting to my presence.
'What, do you know me?'
"I'm (Y/N)! Stop joking around! This isn't funny!"
'Listen, Sweetheart, I don't know who you are, I'm not joking.' His voice went down an octave than his usual one. His face was serious, with a layer of confusion hidden underneath it all. 'Do you know me? What's my name then?'
I was just about to respond when we hear loud voices echo down the hall.
"OH FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME, PI, THERE'S NOTHING. GOING. ON. BETWEEN ME AND TRIST!
'THEN WHY WAS HE IN YOUR BED?'
"I GOT NIGHTMARES! Y'KNOW? FROM WHEN BLIXER MURDERED ME? SHEESH, DO YOU NOT?"
'OH SURE, YEAH, THAT'S TOTALLY BELIEVABLE, YOU JUST HAPPENED TO HAVE A NIGHTMARE AND HE JUST HAPPENED TO HAPPILY AGREE TO SPEND THE NIGHT "SLEEPING" AND "COMFORTING" YOU, STOP LYING TETRA, I'VE SEEN THE WAY HE LOOKS AT YOU, HE'S LOVESTRUCK-'
"FOR FUCKS SAKE PI, SHUT UP!"
'TETRA, TELL ME, HE'S A GUY, YOU'RE NOT ANYTHING, HOW AND WHERE DID HE MANAGE TO PUT HIS-'
"I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT! WHAT THE- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
'CHECKING FOR HICKIES! AND- AHA! I FOUND ONE!'
"THAT WAS WHEN YOU SHOT ME WITH A NERF GUN YESTERDAY YOU DIMWIT!"
'Oh yeah I remember that.'
"AND DID YOU SERIOUSLY THINK I WAS HIDING HICKIES UNDER HERE?"
'WELL I DON'T KNOW, THAT MIGHT BE THE WHOLE REASON WHY TRIST GAVE YOU THIS SCARF IN THE FIRST PLACE!'
"HE WAS FUCKING ELEVEN!"
'OH SO HE KNEW WHAT HE WANTED FROM A YOUNG AGE! MMM, TETRA YOU'VE GOT A BIG STORM COMING- Oh. Hey (Y/N).'
I waved awkwardly to Pi and Tetra in the doorway. Tetra's face was flushed a bright red while Pi was laughing his ass off. His hair was tied up into a bun.
"Remind me to kill this guy later on..." Tetra muttered under their breath.
'Hey, so (Y/N), we heard from Skye and came as soon as possible - apparently he has amnesia?' Pi chirped, completely ignoring Tetra.
"...Unfortunately..." Please tell me this is all just a dream. Please tell me that I'm going to wake up and it turns out that Fresh still remembers me. Neither of the two knew what to say.
"Where's Lumina and Quin?"
'Lumina doesn't want to come and Quin's coming over here with Trist in a couple minutes.' Pi said as he walked into the room. Fresh's body seemed to tense up upon seeing them. Did he get a bad feeling? Though there was not a single hint of recognition in his eyes. 'Hey, Doc, can we talk to him? Alone?'
The doctor nodded and gestured for the nearby nurses to leave, leaving the four of us alone.
"Alright, who the hell are you guys? Do you know me? Are you like, friends or something? I'm pretty sure this Girl is, from the feeling I get from her, but I dunno about you two..."
I felt a small warmth bury itself into my heart at the mention of him having a friendly feeling from me. So he still has a little bit left of him inside. I couldn't help but break a small smile. Seeing this, Fresh just blinked slowly and nodded.
"Telling from her reaction she's definitely a friend. What about you two?"
Pi and Tetra stared at each other, uneasy.
"We... Um... We met... once..." Tetra lied. From the way all colour drained from their face, it's highly likely they weren't gonna get into... That... anytime soon. And frankly I don't know how he'll react to knowing that he brutally killed four teenagers and didn't even remember it. "I'm Tetra, this is my brother Pi."
'You two don't look like siblings.'
"Well, uh, the two of us, as well as our other two Siblings Lumina and Quin, showed up at the Orphanage all four at the same time in the same night, so I guess you can say we're adoptive siblings? The folks in town call us the 'Quartet'."
'Ah. What about this one?' He nodded his head in my general direction. EXCUSE ME??? WHY IS HE NOT ADDRESSING ME PROPERLY?
"...That's (Y/N). She's... Your... Ask her, I'm not entirely sure what your relationship is."
'(Y/N). That's a pretty name.' He turned his head towards me. 'So. You're like, uh... A friend of mine?'
I felt my cheeks flushing and I looked down. Usually I wouldn't be so nervous, but he doesn't even remember me now, how would he react to me telling him what was going on between the two of us? "I... Erm... Well... Uh... Let's see, we... So the thing is, a couple of weeks before you fell into a coma, we met and-"
'Get to the point Sweetheart, I don't have all day.'
"I'M YOUR GIRLFRIEND.' I blurted out. "I THINK."
Silence.
Then Fresh finally cracked a smile and started to laugh. His roaring laugh bounced off the walls and after a few seconds of it he started to cough and stopped, but he still smiled.
"What's so funny?"
'Lemme guess, I was your arch-nemesis and we hated each other's guts but then we hooked up or some shit and it turned into a cheesy one-sided love story.'
That sounds like a genuine plot for an x reader but unfortunately it is not this one.
"...No actually, it's kinda weird to explain but like... Well, it was one-sided at first, but we weren't arch-enemies or something."
He nodded as he scanned me from head to toe. Like he was feeling me with his eyes. Well, eye in this case, apparently he wasn't opening his other eye anytime soon. In fact, looking at his lower body, the blanket completely ignored his left leg, it wasn't even there. It was just a stump, if I were to imagine so.
"Say, uh, Blixer?" Tetra perked up.
'Blixer? Is that my name?' Fresh's eyebrows raised themselves. Meanwhile mine furrowed.
"Ah shit- Sorry, that's just what we all called you when we didn't know your name- What is his name, (Y/N)?"
I blinked. Blixer. That sounds like a cool name. "He told me to call him Fresh."
Fresh scoffed. 'Fresh. Did I really tell you that's my name?'
No, it's Cumference, you're a god who was in a coma for a thousand years
'...It wasn't your real name... You never told me what it was." I shook my head and lied.
Then, two people walked into the room. One of them was a short, green-haired man while the other was another man wearing cat-eared headphones who towered over all of us.
"Hey Quin, Hey Trist." I waved. Quin waved back, but Trist stayed tense. "Oh yeah. Fresh, this is Quin, Tetra and Pi's brother, and this is Trist, a close friend of theirs."
'Ah. Quin.' He nodded. 'Your sister told me about you, apparently she says-'
"They." Tetra shot him a dirty look. Fresh blinked and he almost shrinked under their intense gaze.
'They... They told me about you...'
Once Quin and Trist arrived, we filled him in on where he was. He was in Paradise, the main hospital, and explained to him about Headphones, which he seemed to have forgotten, and other things. He soaked in the information readily and nodded. But the moment we mentioned the Tree of Life his expression immediately changed.
"What's the matter?"
'...I don't know, it's... weird, hey, is it normal to both be scared of the Tree of Life and also want to fuck it at the same time?'
Silence.
"...MOVING ON-"
'Also...' He raised a finger and pointed it at Trist. 'Should I be worried about the way that guy's looking at me right now?'
Quin, Pi, Tetra and I weren't sure what he was talking about, but the moment we looked behind us at Trist we almost fell out of our chairs.
I have never seen a more hateful expression on anyone's face before.
Trist's pearl black eyes were open and glaring at Fresh with the largest concentration of hatred and malice that I have ever seen swimming in anyone's eyes. It was like if he stared at him intensely enough his head would explode. Usually the expression on Trist's face would be a mellow, kind one, an expression so sweet it looks like he was made from cotton candy. That made the bitterness that radiated off of this guy's face all the more terrifying. He didn't even pull that expression when I attempted to strangle Tetra, but when he was up against the man who not only slowly killed them but also Lumina, Quin and Pi, Oh sweet Jesus, remind me to never hurt any of them. The worst part was he was completely silent.
But... He's relatively harmless... Right?
So I wasn't too worried, but I was definitely uneasy. Tetra just put their hand over his and he seemed to calm down a little bit, but the cold, bitter hellfire that was burning in his gaze was still roaring and raging. Like he was going to explode at any second. He's not the kind of person to attack someone, right? I'm not too worried, but that thought still lingered at the back of my mind. But despite the blackness of his eyes, in both colour and intent, I decided to let the thought that Trist would try something aside.
The appearance of a nurse calmed me down slightly, as she called the five of us out of the room to discuss something.
The good news is - He can be discharged out of hospital in two days!
The bad news is - when I turned around, I couldn't see Trist anywhere. The moment I voiced this, I heard yelling from inside Fresh's hospital room.
"What the- hey, HEY! WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?" I heard Fresh's voice yell followed by the sound of crashing and struggling. My heart dropped.
I was wrong to assume Trist was harmless.
"TRIST!" The four of us all yelled at the same time as we sprinted into the hospital room, ready for anything.
The look on Trist's face had NOT gotten calmer. He was still exhibiting the most hate-filled expression I have ever seen as one of his fists yanked Fresh's hospital robe closer to him while the other one was trying to cave his face in. I could see muscles I never knew the guy have tense themselves under his oversized sweater. Luckily Fresh was strong, despite having just woken up from a year-long coma, and managed to hold Trist's fist at bay, though he was struggling since his fist was shaking. There was an angry red mark on his cheek, however, and the look on his face was a defensive hostility. He may be hospitalised and in bad shape, but he wasn't planning on letting himself be hospitalised further. A couple of machines he was hooked up to toppled over, and one of the IVs in his hand was ripped out, but other than that there was no damages. So far.
Fresh's face was red and hot- Trist's face was black and cold.
Quin and Pi immediately tried to pry Trist's heavy body away from Fresh, but Trist was considerably larger than both of them and it took a lot of effort to even get him to budge. Or even get him to want to budge. Tetra put both their hands on his shoulders, looked him dead in the eye and tried to talk him out of it, but all that came out were screams and demands that Trist calm down. I checked Fresh's face. That's probably gonna leave a bruise, but he seemed otherwise alright. He still snarled at Trist.
Then, a loud roar echoed through the room that silenced us all.
"YOU MURDERER!" Trist shrieked. Quin and Pi stood still as Tetra's eyes widened. I couldn't find any words to say. His voice sounded like the clashing of swords, the blood rush of angry men, the battle cry of an enraged lion. His black eyes were glaring daggers at Fresh. No, scratch that, he was staring katanas at him.
Those were the first words I had ever heard him speak, save for that time when he sang me to sleep. And they were shrieked so loudly and spine-chillingly I felt my heart bolt itself and shrink against the back of my ribcage and cower before the Savage standing before me. My blood went cold lying my eyes upon him. With the look on his face, flames might be rising and falling at his feet with his every exhale. You murderer.
I hadn't been scared of Trist before, but now I was.
Eventually security had to escort Trist out. The three siblings followed him, while I stayed behind with Fresh.
"What the fuck was that about?" He muttered, cupping his cheek. The nurses that came in earlier said that the bruise was fine and gave him an ice pack. Luckily he wasn't going to be hospitalised any longer due to it. "Why did he attack me like that? And why did he call me a... murderer?" From the look on his face, it seemed that he did not get a good feeling from that word. I just swallowed. I think I might tell him everything, about who he was now that the Quartet weren't here. Get us to return to the life that bought me so much joy, but...
I almost got married to the guy, I know him better than you do, trust me when I say that all he wanted was to have a fresh start.
I remembered Trinity's words.
If... I had woken up one day, not knowing who I was, and I was suddenly told that I had an extremely dark past that involved murdering those I loved most, I would not take it well. I've seen the way he drinks, If I were in his shoes - all I would want to do is to just Forget. Forget about everything. Turn over a new leaf, escape the past. I would be begging to have amnesia.
And now that he had the perfect opportunity to do so, it'd be just cruel to take that away from him, wouldn't it?
So I decided I wouldn't be telling him about Cumference anytime soon. But I know that one day I'll have to, many years into the future when he's wondering why I'm old and grey and he's still young as ever.
I wondered if he still remembers me vaguely. There weren't any nurses around, so I decided I could be frank with him.
"Fresh, I want you to be 100% honest here. Don't hide a single thing." I turned towards him. He looked at me back, wondering what I'm going to say with a look in his eyes that suggested interest and anticipation. He didn't show that interest when the three siblings turned up. "What do you think of me?"
He was silent for a few seconds, scanning me from head to toe, wondering what to say. I could see an advanced thought process going on behind his singular pink eye
"Completely honest? Like, 100%?"
'100%, don't hide a single thing.'
"...I'd definitely fuck you-"
I punched him
"TOO HONEST! TRY AGAIN!"
He nursed his right arm, where I punched him, as he stared at me like I was crazy. "What? Bu-"
I raised my fist again and he immediately complied.
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! Hmm.... Your right asscheek is bigger than your left-"
I punched him again.
"OH COME ON!"
"SAY SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH MY BUTT!"
"ALRIGHT!" His face was red now, whether it was from Trist's fists or his own blush, I wasn't quite sure. He was racking his brain for thoughts, like he was trying to materialise his thought process from thin air. "You've got a nice smile." He said as he raised his arms to protect himself if he needed to.
I lowered my fist. "That's better."
"And seriously woman, when was the last time you brushed your teeth- OW!"
"YOU ARE HOPELESS!"
"BITCH WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?"
I heard laughing from behind me, and the two of us turned around at the same time to see Quin in the doorway, face in his hands as he laughed to himself.
"What's so funny?"
'I'm sorry, don't mind me, you two just seem like an old married couple to me.'
"WE'RE NOT MARRIED AND WE'RE NOT OLD!" The two of us yelled at him at the exact same time, which coaxed him to snort and say something that sounded like "Like I said."
"...Are we?" He asked me, sounding uncertain.
'Do you see a ring on my finger?'
"True." He nodded.
'By the way, Uh... (Y/M), was it?'
"(Y/N), not (Y/M)."
'(Y/N), sorry... I like the name "Blixer" more than "Fresh", can you... call me that instead?'
I blinked. Sure, I knew that Fresh wasn't this guy's real name to begin with, but to change a habit I've developed for more than a year? And plus, "Fresh" really stuck with me, I can't just randomly change it! But like, changing your name after waking up from a coma, is that just a thing he does? From Cumference to Fresh and now from Fresh to Blixer.
"Alright, I'll try, but I'll probably slip and accidentally call you 'Fresh' Sometimes, hope you're okay with that..."
'No problem. Just don't do it too much, or I'll have to beat it into your skull.'
I rolled my eyes. "How threatening..."
When Tetra and Pi walked back in, they both sighed and apologised profusely.
"I am so sorry, I don't know what his problem is, I knew the guy was terrible at letting go of grudges but I didn't think he'll go this far, please excuse him, he's-"
'Nah nah, it's okay, it's okay.' Fresh... Blixer closed his eye and waved. 'I'm guessing that Cat-ears over there isn't usually like this?'
"...Cat Ears? Oh um, yeah, he's never like this, first time in his life he's ever been like that, and the guy's 20 years old for gods sake."
Blixer nodded. 'So, uh, Midget, one more question-'
"MIDGET?"
'Why was he so mad at me in the first place? What did I ever do to him?'
The four of us looked at each other. We looked back at him.
And so, we told him the story about the Dark Days. About what the Quartet got up to after they were blasted away by him. About how the two of us met in a cold, wet cave and how the Quartet and him all died. About how the five of them got resurrected.
He took it in all quietly, nodding and asking a couple of questions. When he was uncertain, I pulled my phone out and showed him pictures of him that he had no memory of being in. He was quite surprised to see both of his eyes open. His brow was furrowed as he sat in silence after the whole ordeal, staring out the window.
"Uh, Blixer, you okay?" Quin perked up after a while of being silent.
'Yeah. I'm fine.' He grunted as he kept staring out the window. 'I'm... Just trying to process everything.'
"Alright, uh, do you want us to give you a moment?"
'I'd appreciate it if you all Scram. Go home. If I have more questions I'll give ya a call.'
"O-okay, let's go guys." Pi gestured for all of us to leave and give him some space, but the moment I got up from my chair, I got stopped.
"Not you." Blixer snatched my hand before I left. The other three just looked at each other before shrugging and saying goodbye to all of us. I just blinked.
'Why am I allowed to stay?'
"You got a problem with that?" An asymmetrical smile tugged at his lips as he scoffed.
'N-No, of course not, I'm just curious.'
"I get a good feeling around you. I'd appreciate it if you stay.'
I felt the warm tingle of a blush stroke my cheek when he said that. Guess he still remembers me somewhat despite having no knowledge of my name until like, half an hour ago.
"I just hope you don't mind me being silent. And I hope you don't mind me wanting you to be quiet as well. I need the silence."
'I understand.'
So just like that, we spent the next hour or so in silence as he stared intensely out the window at the scenery below, and his gaze was primarily focused on the massive, 200 meter tall Tree of Life in the city square. I wonder if it reminds him of the life he tried so desperately to forget. The life where he had a son and a Fiancee who betrayed him for reasons he didn't understand. His brow was set and furrowed as his closed eye seemed almost hollow underneath. He looked weirdly peaceful like that. His light blue hospital robe loosely hung onto his disciplined torso, exposing his collarbone and the very tips of his white scars.
"What're you looking at? It's rude to stare y'know." Blixer snorted as he turned around to face me. Amusement.
'Was I staring?' My eyebrows raised but my eyelids didn't. 'Sorry.'
"I don't have a problem with it. You do seem to like staring at me. Am I really that nice to look at?"
'I wouldn't be staring if you weren't.'
"Good point."
Despite the silence in the air in-between a few exchanged words, despite the coldness of the situation to anyone overlooking, despite everything, I felt a warmth in the air. I felt comfortable with him, and in my book, the best kinds of people are those who you can talk hours on end with, but also be silent for hours on end with at the same time. Eventually his hand closed around mine. And mine around his. He was trying to settle things in his mind and having me around seemed to help him.
We stayed like that for a while.