Hi everyone! I hope you're all enjoying what you've read so far. I never imagined I would get back into writing or did I ever think I'd be shelling out chapters this quickly. I do want to warn everyone that my work has started to pick up amidst the apocalypse so the chapters may start coming at a slower rate. I will try my hardest to stay at the current pace and shell out a couple chapters a week.
I appreciate everyone who's emailed me about Remember Me. I'm glad you all enjoy this story so much. I have a plan laid out for how the story plays out and I hope I stick with it as I've never actually finished writing any of my other Nifty stories in the past.
Anyway, this chapter introduces a time jump which explains the two chapter titles. Without the time jump, chapter 6 would have been extremely short. The second title for this chapter is heavily influenced by the song Ain't Together by King Princess. So if you want, give that a listen before reading this.
Again I'm very thankful to all of my readers.
Enjoy!
Chapter 6: Aftermath/Ain't Together
"Mmm my head," I groaned.
I've never had a headache this bad before. It felt like my mind was trying to split by the seams. And for some reason the sun decided beaming directly at me was a good idea. Odd, I don't remember sunlight being rainbow colored. Wait a second...
"Where am I?" I asked aloud.
I groggily tried shifting my body upright but there was something pulling me back. Looking down, there was a tanned hairy arm pinning me down. Slowly I turn my head back in horror, and there lied Carver shirtless with his face buried into my clothed backside. What the fuck happened last night? I've always heard stories about people doing things when they're drunk but no, there's absolutely no way Carver and I did...that. I don't remember doing anything like that. I would remember if I did that though right?
As I tried to piece back the events of last night, I felt Carver's arm twitch. "Good morning Fang," Carver yawned as he rubbed his eyes. "What's wrong? You look terrified."
"Um well since you asked. Did we do anything last night? I mean besides go to the party?"
"What do you mean?" he asked as he slipped out of the covers revealing the same olive green silk boxer shorts as the night before.
"Carver, you're not wearing any pants!" I shrieked pulling the covers over me.
"Woah woah woah calm down. Nothing like that happened."
"Then why? Why were we sleeping together? Why are you only in your boxers?"
"Let me explain. I sleep in the nude but since you were here I slept in my shorts. I probably should have known better since it wasn't just me in my bed."
"Y-You mean it? Nothing happened?" I asked as I lowered the covers.
"I promise. I didn't mean to scare you like that."
Carver then got out of bed, stretching with his arms outstretched. He then placed with palms onto his lower back as he arched his back. I could hear his back pop like bubble wrap. He let out a low gruff grunt.
"Okay I'm definitely keeping this moment for later," I whispered under my breath.
"Did you say something?"
"What?" I asked snapping back to reality. "N-No, I said nothing."
He chuckled then smiled at me. "I'm gonna get you a glass of water. I'll be right back."
"Smooth Fang. Crisis averted," I groaned as I tried cupping my face but ended up inadvertently smacking my face. "Ow my head! God why are you like this?"
Oh fuck! Aunt Jackie's probably worried sick about me. I should call her. Reaching into my front pocket, I pulled out my phone. Luckily, I still had a bit of charge left. I quickly dialed in her number.
"Oh someone's awake. How nice of you to call seeing as it's the next morning," she sounded annoyed.
"Sorry, sorry I know I should have called you last night but things got a little out of hand last night. It doesn't really help that I don't remember what actually happened last night besides being at a party."
"What do you mean you don't know what happened?"
"Uh well I may have...well actually it happened on a whim...well not a whim but--"
"I know you drank Fang," she said dryly.
"What? I-I didn't not drink,"
She sighed. "Aggie called me last night."
My heart dropped. I mean I should have suspected it. "Oh she called you last night?" I said in higher pitch.
"Oh yeah. Not only were you drinking, you were also shit faced. Damn I really wanted to see you shit faced. Well was it everything you wanted it to be?"
"If I could remember I would tell you. All I remember is going to the party and then waking up in Carver's arms."
"You don't remember? What did you drink?"
"I think it was called tequila."
"That explains it. That's tequila for you. Wait did you say you woke up in his arms? Were you at least safe?"
Suddenly I heard heavy footsteps approaching. "Uh it was so nice to talk to you Aunt Jackie. I gotta go. Love you," I hurriedly hung up on my aunt and nervously chucked my phone across the room.
"Is everything okay?" he asked confused looking at the phone I had accidentally thrown across the room.
"What? Oh yeah, everything's fine."
"Are you sure? You look more flustered than usual."
"O-Oh yeah. One hundred percent fine."
Carver walked up to me handing me the glass of water. He then slipped me a couple of reddish pills.
"What's this for?" I asked.
"I grabbed a couple of aspirins. I figured you'd need it after the night you had."
"Oh um thanks," I said as I anxiously took a sip of water while just staring at the pills.
"Um aren't you gonna take those or are you fine?"
"Um yeah, I'll take them. It's just been a while since I've taken pills like these." Reluctantly, I popped the pills and followed with the last few gulps of water.
"You sure you're okay?" he probed.
"Hm? Uh yeah, I'm just trying to piece together last night."
"About that," Carver said as he sat at the foot of the bed. "Do you...uh remember anything about last night?"
"I remember going to the party and taking the shots. I don't remember much after that though. Is there something important that I'm missing?" I curiously asked.
"It's just--forget it. It's not important," Carver said disappointed. "You should call your aunt to pick you up or I can ask my Grandma."
--
It's been a few months after that day. I'm still not sure what happened but whatever happened Carver won't tell me. Lulu has no idea either so now I've been trying to figure it out all by myself; I doubt I'll ever piece it back together. At least not without any clues.
Chloe's been extra bitchy to me ever since that night. According to her, I ruined everything for her. How does one person who doesn't exist in her reality even do something like that? I guess I'm the villain in her story.
Anyway, people at school have been getting rather rowdy lately. It's homecoming season and that's all anyone can really talk about. If you can already guess, I don't plan on going and it's definitely not because I can't get a date. I ended up passing it last year too. I just don't really get the appeal of dressing up in flashy clothes just to dance in the school's cafeteria. But I guess some people just need a break in from class.
Lulu's has been trying to get me to go to the dance, apparently I'll regret it if I don't go. She's been appointed head of the dance committee and everyone she's asked has bailed. I'm pretty sure I'm the last person she wanted to ask but I guess she's desperate. Apparently last year's dance was abysmal. Something about the DJ canceling last minute and the principal ended up telling jokes. It's just as nauseating as it sounds.
"Look, I know you don't actually want my help. Why don't you just plan the dance solo?" I asked as we ate our lunch.
"But I could really use another person's input. Last year's dance was a nightmare and I can't continue this tradition. We deserve something good for once."
"Why don't you ask Chloe? I'm sure she would love to help plan a dance."
"As much as I would love to use Chloe solely for her daddy's money, she doesn't exactly want to help the best friend of the person who ruined her party."
"Ugh, girl can hold a grudge. I still don't even know what I did. Are you sure you don't remember anything?"
"The only thing I remember you doing is dancing--well if you can call what you did dancing, at her party. You were dancing with Carver and then she showed up and blew a gasket."
"Wait, I was dancing with Carver? Why are you just now telling me this?" I asked panicked.
"I just remembered it, that's why. Well speak of the devil, Carver's coming this way."
"Hey did I miss anything?" Carver asked as he sat down next to me. "Still trying to recruit Fang to help with the dance?"
"Yes and he still doesn't want to help. I've been so stressed out about this dance, I haven't even had the time to find a date and with the dance being in two weeks I'm pretty sure I won't get one."
"There's plenty of fish in the sea, Lulu. You're smart and pretty, I'm sure you could get a guy to dance you with you if you just ask."
"But I want to be asked. That's the experience I want to... well experience."
"How about we go together? I don't have a date to the dance either," Carver shrugged as he stole a glance at me.
"Thanks Carver but you're like brother to me. Plus, I'm pretty sure you'd rather go with someone else," Lulu said as she nudged me.
I lightly stepped on her foot underneath the table. I'm not going to ask Carver to the dance because well if I'm going to be frank, would prefer to be asked than to be the one to ask. I don't exactly have the courage to do that sort of thing. Plus she really needs to stop pushing this idea that Carver wants me. Even if he was into me, I'm way out of his league. He's smart, handsome, really nice, and has a body most men would kill to have. He could have anyone he wants, why would he want someone like me? Although I do think it's odd that he hasn't dated anyone since we've met. It doesn't take sense to me. I've literally seen him reject girls flat out. Maybe he's just really picky?
"Fang, I just need a theme for the dance. That's all. Please I am begging you," Lulu said as she latched onto me. "I need this to work. I'll do anything!"
"If you need help, I'm available," Carver said as he bit into the green apple that was on his lunch tray.
"Okay, fine. God you guys just don't know when to quit," I said rolling my eyes.
"Oh cool, great. I knew I could count on you," Lulu said nonchalantly as she straightened up. She grabbed her things, stood up and just before she left she said "You owe me one Carver. I'll see you two at the dance."
"Wait why is she thanking you?"
Carver turned away trying to hide his obvious blushing.
"Oh my god! You guys conned me into this! Oh my god, Carver!Why?"
"To be honest, I wanted you to go to the dance. I kinda figured you wouldn't go unless you had to. The best way to do that was to trick you. We actually thought it'd be a lot harder."
"So you're saying the dance is all ready to go and I don't need to come up with a theme?" I asked dryly.
"No, there still needs to be a theme. Lulu has everything ready but the theme. She's counting on you to think of something."
"Why me? I know nothing about dances."
"Well it's not about the dance itself. It's more about the feeling. You've got an eye for these things. I mean you helped pick out what I should wear to the party."
"I picked a shirt. Not much thinking going on there."
"You said it highlighted my eyes. I think that's pretty thoughtful."
Well I guess I did say that but I still don't think it matched the pressure of finding the right theme. "Well I don't really know where to start, any ideas?"
"How about we take a walk around town? Maybe something around town will inspire you?"
"Okay I guess that's a start." I looked up and saw the cafeteria was emptying out. "We should probably walk to class."
--
I sat on the stone stairs waiting for Carver at the front of school. Apparently, he forgot something in his locker. As I sat out there, I started to contemplate of different possible themes.
"Maybe we could do a decades dance? Like an all 90s dance? No, that wouldn't work with this crowd. Shit this is a lot harder than I thought. Why would they ask me to do this?" I asked myself looking towards the clouds. "Universe I could really use some help here."
"We could always do a theme with your head is in the clouds," Carver said as he stood over me. "I can see it now, we'll cover the cafeteria with big, cotton clouds and we'll plaster your face in the center of each cloud. That's pretty original."
"I don't think that'd work. That's a surefire way to get the dance cancelled. Maybe if we put your face in the clouds, it'd have a chance."
"Me? I'm flattered," Carver laughed. "So where should we start?"
"Well you mentioned walking around town so I guess we could start walking. Maybe I'll be magically inspired just by walking with you around town."
"Am I your muse?" Carver ask half smiling.
"Do you enjoy teasing me?" I asked as I pushed my bangs out of my eyes. He smiled again, wider now.
"I wasn't teasing; it was a genuine question."
"Right, first you ask me if I think you're pretty and now you're asking me if I think you're my muse. You're a tease."
"If you say so."
Carver and I continued to walk around town. We were hoping that something in town could spark some sort of inspiration for our dance. Too bad we literally couldn't think of anything. No amount of walking around our small town could spark even a glimmer of hope.
We even walked through Haven's very own Floralporium, which was just our town's community flower garden. Did I forget to mention that I'm basically allergic to everythig? We walked around for a good minute until I had a sneezing fit. I knew I should have taken an allergy pill today. Of course I didn't think I would get dragged into the dance committee.
Carver and I ended up retreating to Home Sweet Home after that disastrous visit to my allergy induced death sentence. As usual, it was filled to the brim. So packed in fact, that there was even a line out the door. It's the only place in town where you can get a decent plate of food so it really is no surprise. It looked like any generic diner. Bright red colored booths lined up around the sides with outdated checkerboard tile flooring. It was pretty nostalgic looking, which I guess could be comforting if that's your thing. But what really made it their own was all the framed photos of the Landons. You could really see the growth of their family just by admiring any of their portraits. Besides the decor, Mama Rose makes everything with love. You can really taste it in everything she makes. It's authentic home cooking you really don't get anywhere else in town.
Even though it was packed, there was a special area unknown to most diners. I guided Carver through the line towards the back by the kitchen. There was a little area where everyone ate during their breaks, well they would eat here on their breaks if didn't eat while working. So I've claimed it as my own VIP table, away from the general populace. Sure the seat coverings were cracked and I've already started to peel away at it but I doubt anyone's noticed.
I swear there must be some sort of motion sensor in this booth though because right as we sat down, Mama Rose appeared right behind us. She was like Grandma Aggie, a sweet, old lady except for the fact that she was a full-figured, voluptuous black woman with a deep brown complexion and charcoal colored dreads wrapped high into a loose bun. She's always had a soft spot for me, something about my vibe, not sure what that means though honestly.
"Hi Fang! I haven't seen you here in a while. I was starting to think you had left us for The Hampton Cafe."
"Me? Leave you for that trash? You've got to be kidding me. I've been busy lately. Oh this is my friend Carver."
"It's nice to meet you," Carver said, his hand outreached. "You must be Lulu's mom."
"Oh we've got a charmer here. Your usual Fang?"
"Yeah, that'll be great."
"And for Fang's lovely boyfriend?"
"Oh we're not a couple," I said blushing.
"Really? That's a damn shame. You two would make a cute couple. I'll just bring you the same as Fang," she said as she walked off.
Did I mention that she has no filter?
"She seems nice," Carver said breaking the ice. "Why did she call me a charmer?"
"Probably because that's Lulu's grandma."
"No way! How old is she?"
"I'm pretty sure she's about the same age as your grandma. Ever heard the phrase `black don't crack?'"
"Shit I hope I look that good at her age."
"Mmm I mean you're probably gonna have to do extra work to get there so probably not."
"Hey!" Carver punched my arm. "I'm gonna look good as an old man."
"Ow!" I whined rubbing my arm. "You didn't have to punch me so hard. Now it's gonna bruise."
"Well you shouldn't have been a dick."
"Fine, you're just like George Clooney and you'll age like fine wine. Happy?"
"Yeah, it really means a lot that you think that even when I'm old and gray you'd still think I'm pretty," he joked as he held my hands in his. "Sorry about the arm."
"Okay now I thought you said he wasn't your boyfriend?" Mama Rose asked as she came back with the food.
I quickly snatched back my hands. "He's not my boyfriend!"
"Well if a man ever holds my hand and looks at me the same way he looked at you, I'd think he had feelings for me."
I looked over at Carver and he just sat there with a smug look on his face. Okay he's not helping, ass.
"Okay well I have two Fang specials," Rose said as slid our food in front of us. "Oh and I whipped up something special for you two, I call it the Sweetheart Shake. Now I know you can't have dairy Fang so I made it with almond milk and dairy free ice cream. You don't have an allergy to nuts do you, Carver?"
"No ma'am, I love nuts," Carver replied holding back his laughter.
"I'm sure you do," she winked. "Now eat up and you two enjoy your date."
"It's not a date!" I yelled back at her as she giggled away. I dropped my head into my hands and mumbled "sorry about her, she doesn't have a filter."
"Don't worry about it. I thought she was funny," Carver said propping my head back up. "So she called this the Fang special? It's just a plate of chicken fingers."
"Yeah when I was a kid that was the only thing I would order. It stuck so that's what she calls it now. If you want something else, I can go try to flag her down."
"What? No, it's fine."
"Are you sure? I don't think she really cares either way."
"I'm good. I promise."
With all said and done, we continued our conversation about potential dance themes. At one point we considered doing a 50s theme but after texting Lulu that was a no go.
As we finished eating, I realized that it was getting pretty dark out. We should probably get going with the theme still looming over our heads.
"Fuck its dark already? I have to get home and do my homework," I said as we walked out. "We still don't have a theme. Lulu is going to kill me tomorrow. Care to walk me home?"
"Before we do that, I want to show you something."
"Okay well go ahead."
"It's at my house. I couldn't really bring it with me. So we can walk there and then I can walk you home after. Is that okay?"
"Um sure, I'll just text my aunt real quick."
After I texted my aunt about the current plans, Carver and I continued our night closely walking together. Our hands grazed each other continuously. The thought of holding his hand crossed my mind at one point, but I decided against it. Didn't want to make this night any weirder than it already was. After a few minutes, we finally arrived at his house. We had the house all to ourselves. Apparently Aggie and George were out of town.
"So what did you want to show me?" I asked standing awkwardly in his bedroom.
"It's not in here. It's actually up in the attic."
"Oh so what are we doing here then? Let's just go up."
"It's not ready yet actually," Carver said scratching his head. "Wait here while I go finish up. I'll come get you when it's all set."
In a flash, Carver ran up towards the attic. I watched as his ass bounced in those jeans. With him no longer in view, I walked towards his bed and then sat at the edge of the bed. I haven't been in here since that day after the party. The moving boxes were gone and oddly enough the room basically looked the same. You know how you can usually tell the personality of someone by looking at their room? I don't think I could if I didn't already know him, to put it bluntly it was plain. I guess it's not a big deal, at least he keeps his room clean unlike me.
As I continued to sit in silence, I did notice something that I don't remember being before. There was a framed photo on his nightstand. I moved closer and it was the selfie of me and Carver right before the party. We looked so happy that night. It warmed my heart to know that he had that framed.
"Hey so we're good to go," Carver said popping into his room breathing heavily.
"Oh my god, you scared me!" I said as I fumbled with the frame. "You got this framed?"
"Uh yeah, I hope you don't mind."
"Oh I don't mind. I like it. Can you send me that picture? I'd love to frame it for myself too."
"Yeah I'll text it to you later. Come on, follow me," he pleaded.
I ended up placing the frame back not the nightstand and followed Carver to the door to the attic.
"Okay so I need to blindfold you."
"What? Why?" I asked suspiciously.
"Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do. It's just weird that you're asking me this all of a sudden," I said as I closed my eyes. I shuddered as I felt Carver wrap the blindfold over my eyes. "You're not gonna kill me are you?"
"What? No, of course not. Don't be silly. Now take my hand."
"Carver you just blinded me. How do you expect me to hold your hand when I can't see?"
"Just hold your hand out. I'll grab it."
"Okay," I sighed. "I swear to god if you kill me, I will come back to haunt you."
I cautiously put my hand out and I felt him firmly clasp my hand while interlocking his fingers between mine. His hand was just as warm as it usually is and if my palms weren't clammy I would probably be in heaven right now.
"Okay so here come the stairs, so I need you to step up when I tell you okay?"
"Shouldn't I just, I don't know, look down so I don't trip up on the stairs?" I asked nervously.
"It'll ruin everything so I'd prefer if you don't. Just trust me okay? I've got you. I won't let anything bad happen to you."
Sighing, I tightly clutched Carver's hand as he guided me up the stairs. I stumbled a few times to the point where I lost my balance but he was always there to pull me back up. As we reached the final step, I heard Carver flip what sounded like a light switch.
"Okay, I'm gonna take off the blindfold now. I don't want you to freak out, okay?"
I could sense him right in front of me, his breath unsteady. When he reached around to untie the knot at the back of my skull, I could feel how shaky his fingers were. It seemed like he was nervous about something but I wasn't sure what. I've never really seen him be nervous about anything really. He's always so confident about everything he does.
As the blindfold dropped, I rubbed my eyes as they were trying to readjust to the lighting. I looked back up and the whole attic had these white icicle lights, the kind you would see around Christmas, thoughtfully placed on the wooden beams. It reminded me of looking up at the stars.
"Do you like it?" Carver asked.
"Carver, it's--it's beautiful. I-I'm speechless," I said as I looked at him. He was blushing, smiling, clearly proud of his work. "I-Is this for me?"
"Yeah, I usually come up here when I need to think. It doesn't always look like this though. I wanted it to be special...for you."
"I-It's great. I've never had someone do something like this for me before. But what's the occasion?"
"Follow me."
Carver took my hand in his again and guided me to what looked like a balcony. There was a giant handwoven family quilt laid out on the floor and white tea light candles sprawled around outlining the quilt. I sat down on the quilt while Carver lied next to me.
"This is where I come to think. I come here to look out at the stars. It always relaxes me."
"Yeah I totally get that," I said as I looked up into the night sky.
"You do?"
"Yeah, before when I used to live with my parents. They would always host these extravagant parties and it was so they could gloat about their work or something they bought with high price tag. I would always sneak out to the rooftop and just gaze into the stars. I always asked the universe to take me away someplace where I'd feel appreciated, feel wanted for once. Every year, I'd get disappointed when I didn't get my wish but I always had the stars. I could imagine myself somewhere better than Haven, somewhere among the stars. But I guess that was just stupid of me right?"
"No, not at all. I think it's nice to dream of things you want in life even if you can't have it when you want it."
Suddenly, I had a great idea; a theme for the dance.
"I think this would be perfect for the dance. I think this is our theme," I said turning to Carver.
"What?"
"This. All of this," I said pointed at the lights and the candles. "The lights, the candles, the stars. We could call it something like `A Night Under the Stars'. God this is perfect! I've got to text Lulu about it."
I ended up FaceTiming with Lulu. I showed her the whole set up that Carver did and she loved it. I mean it's going to be a nightmare to try to find enough lights to for the dance but that's Lulu's problem. I finally did my job and it was all thanks to Carver.
"Shit it's getting really late, I should probably just call my aunt to pick me up," I said looking down at my phone.
"Wait before you do that, can I ask you something?"
"After you helped me with the theme, yeah. Ask away."
"Are you still planning on not going to the dance?"
"I mean I don't want to go but I need to see how all of this translates into the cafeteria. I'm definitely going now."
Great! That makes two of us. So are you planning on asking anyone to the dance?"
"Who me? I don't know if you know this or not but I'm the black sheep or the ugly duckling of Haven. No one's gonna want to go with me," I scoffed. "How about you?"
"I think if you really thought about it, someone would love to go to the dance with you. He could be right under your nose. And no, no one's asked me."
"Oh right, like I have a secret admirer. And don't lie. I know a lot of the girls in our class have asked and you've rejected every single one. Why? Got high standards?"
"What? No. I-I mean there is someone that I like."
"I knew it! Who is it? Why don't you just ask her?"
"Trust me, I want to ask this person but I have a feeling they'd say no. They'd think that was joking."
"Maybe you should fall for a different girl then. She sounds stupid."
"Whatever you say, but I don't think I could ever stop thinking about her, even if she rejects me."
There was silence between us after that and well I got lost in the stars for a while. By the time I snapped back into reality, I realized Carver was sleeping next to me. What happened to "I need to be naked to fall asleep?" He looked so comfortable lying there next to me. I'm surprised he fell asleep this quickly.
Since he was already knocked out, I decided to take a chance and lie next to him with my head on his chest over his heart. Listening to his heart beating soothed my aching heart.
"I lied Carver. There is someone that I would love to go to the dance with but I don't think he even thinks of me in that way. I think you'd like him. He's funny, kind, and always looks out for me. I always feel safe when he's around. He's always so warm too. I like to think that his warmth melts my icy, cold heart. If you haven't figured it out already, the guy I'm talking about is you Carver," I confessed as I held him closer to me. "I've been falling for you since the first day I met you. I wish I could just tell you this while you're awake but I'm far too chickenshit. I'm afraid of losing you if you knew how I felt. So if I have to hide how I feel about you, I will. I can't lose the one person who's made me feel this good. I hope you understand."
I lifted my head up, just in case he was by chance awake during my confession. He wasn't. I shook my head and kissed him on the cheek.
"I think I'm in love with you Carver. Please don't hate me," I whispered as I placed my head on his chest again and fell asleep.