Forgotten Memories6. Returning HomeMichael Clifford shows up to Andy Ross’ house one day, sayi

Forgotten Memories

6. Returning Home

Michael Clifford shows up to Andy Ross’ house one day, saying that he can’t remember anything. She takes him in, hiding him in her room while trying to figure out how to a) get his memories back, b) contact the band, c) not freak out every time he looks at her, and d) all of the above.

Andy takes Michael to the mall, where he remembers that he likes Chinese food. While they’re eating someone calls Andy’s name, potentially recognizing that she’s with a famous guitarist, and causing all hell to break free.

…

“Andy?” A familiar voice calls.

Oh shit.

I wheel around, “Julie?”

My art teacher smiles at me, “Andy, hi! Who’s this?“

“Ruth, my half sister,” I smile innocently, holding Ruth up a little higher.

“I know little Ruthie, of course! Him, I don’t know,“ she points to Michael, causing my stomach to drop.

"Ooh! This is err…” I look over at Michael with wide eyes. He shifts in his seat, and I see him raise his eyebrows slightly.

“I’m Michael, nice to meet you,” he holds out his arm to Julie, who’s eyes go as wide as saucers.

She shakes his hand whilst her cheeks turn red, “Likewise. How long have you and Andy been… friends?”

The way she pauses before she calls us friends makes me feel embarrassed, because even she knows that I don’t have friends.

“Only for a few days, but it feels like so much longer than that,” Michael answers, looking over at me as he says the last part, causing butterflies to erupt in my stomach.

“Is that so?” She questions, raising her eyebrows at me, “How did the two of you meet?”

“W-we uh, we met um…” I look over to Michael in a panic.

“I fell in the street the other day and hit my head, and she practically saved my life,” he smiles at me, making the butterflies in my stomach go even crazier.

“Oh, wow! Andy, you never told me about this!” Julie exclaims, putting her hand to her heart.

My cheeks get even hotter, and all I can think to do is shrug. Ruth starts to coo as I play with her hands nervously.

“Well, I should be on my way home. Gossip Girl isn’t going to watch itself!” She laughs a her lousy joke, which a smile half-heartedly at.

“It was a pleasure to meet you Michael, hopefully I’ll see you around! And Andy, I’ll see you on Monday!” She exclaims, then begins to walk away.

“Not likely,” I say to myself, knowing that there’s no way I was leaving Michael alone at my house while I’m at school.

“Who was she?” The red-haired Australian asks curiously.

“My art teacher, and basically the only person I talk to at school,” I ramble, my eyes widening and my cheeks heating up again when I realize what I just said.

Michael’s eyebrows furrow, and he leans in closer to me, “Why is she the only person you talk to?”

I shake my head and focus my eyes on Ruth, “N-no reason, I’m just not very wellknow at school, so I don’t have very many friends.”

It’s not technically lying, I’m just twisting the truth a bit. I glance up at Michael for a second after feeling his penetrating gaze on me. I look quickly away, wishing that I wasn’t telling my favorite guitarist in the world how many friends I don’thave.

“Why’s that?” He asks softly.

I shake my head, “That’s a story for another time. Is there anything else that looks familiar around here?”

He’s quiet for a moment then shakes his head, “No, nothing.”

“Well then let’s head home so no one else gets there before us,” I sigh and start to put Ruth into her car seat.

Michael gathers up our garbage and takes it to the trash can while I do up the straps on Ruth’s car seat.

“Our life is crazy, isn’t it Ruthie?” I ask her quietly. She squeals when she hears her name and waves her hands around trying to grab at my hair.

I smile down at her then look over my shoulder to see where Michael is. He stands a few feet away from Ruth and I, staring at the two of us. I can’t tell what expression is on his face because of the sunglasses, but his stare gives me butterflies anyway.

“Ready?” I ask as I lift up Ruth’s car seat off of the chair it was sitting on.

He nods, “I’ll carry her if you want.”

“Sure,” I hold out the car seat. He takes it carefully, his hand brushing against mine as he does it. I pull my arm towards me quickly because of the feeling it gave me and pretend to fix my glasses when Michael gives me with a weird look. I turn around and starting walking out towards my car.

The drive home is spent in complete silence, other than the quite noise of the radio playing. As soon as we arrive home I take Ruth into her room and change her diaper. She grabs at my hair once I take her out of her crib and hold her on my hip. I silently congradulate myself for putting my hair up.

“You don’t get to pull out my hair now, do you? Do you?” I ask playfully as I start to tickle her with my free hand. She squeals happily which causes me to grin.

The sound of a camera click causes me to turn towards the door, “What are you doing?”

Michael looks from the camera in his hands to me with innocence all over his face, “Taking a photo.”

“Well don’t ever do that again, at least of me.” I mutter, taking the camera from him. I quickly find the photo and am about to delete it, but when I actually look at the picture, I freeze. There’s a completely different person on the screen, than I see in the mirror every day. She’s smiling, and happy. She hasn’t been through a huge tragedy.

I blink rapidly to take myself out of the trance. I pretend to delete the photo, then power off the camera and set it down on the changing table in Ruth’s room.

“Sorry, I just really don’t like having my picture taken,” I mumble, peeking up at Michael through my eyelashes.

He nods slowly, then moves his fingers through his now hat-free hair, “It’s alright. I should have told you I was taking won. You just looked so happy.”

“Well when I’m around Ruthie I am happy,” I reply, smiling back down at Ruth.

“Me too,” Michael agrees, walking over to tickle her. She squeals with joy, causing my smile to widen.

I look up at Michael, and after a few seconds he looks at me. I feel my heart beating faster in my chest as his stare lingers on me. My face heats up and all I want to do is look away, but I can’t.

“You’re beautiful when you smile,” he whispers and I swear my heart skipped a beat.

authors note:

Guess who’s back bitches!

Jk jk you’re not bitches, but I am back! It’s been a while; just over 3 months.

I already explained why I haven’t updated in so long in my earlier post, but I’ll just say it again: school keeps me constantly busy, my family life is insane, and my mental and physical health come before anything.

However, I am back, and I will be updating more frequently! Even if it’s just once a month, I’ll update.

I hope you all are well, and have enjoyed the past three months.

Until next time,

-Hannahxx