"She doesn't remember you?" Casey asked, incredulous. Wes had met them at Dave and Buster's after the initial shock wore off. Jess was confused.
"But, she has to remember you," Jess said.
"She doesn't," Wes sighed.
"This is crazy," Casey said.
"I don't know what else to tell you," Wes muttered.
"And Toby," Jess went on. "What a weasel! Acting like her boyfriend."
"Typical guy," Casey snorted.
"What should I do?" Wes asked her.
"I want to kick him in the you know where," Jess kept going on.
"I think give her space. You don't want to confuse her further. I'm pretty sure she has amnesia from what you've told me. She doesn't remember that her parents are divorced either?" Casey asked.
"No," Wes shook his head.
"I mean, who just says you're boyfriend and girlfriend like that?!" Jess exploded.
"Jess, calm down," Casey said, putting her hand on her friend's arm. Jess was breathing hard with anger.
"I can't!" Jess cried. "Bianca is dating a weasel!"
"No, she's not. She just thinks she is. Trust me, if she's anything like our B, she'll discover how weaselly he is in no time," Casey promised.
"I'd like to punch him out," Wes confided in Jess.
"I'll hold him," she replied.
"Stop! Beating up Toby isn't going to change Bianca's mind. It will only make her angry with us," Casey said. "Now, chill out."
"I gotta go," Wes said, looking at the door. Madison had walked in.
"I heard the cops went to her place earlier today," Casey said. Wes looked at her, surprised.
"For what?" he asked.
"Domestic disturbance," she replied. He stared at her, stunned.
"Wes?" Madison called, squinting.
"Damn it," Wes growled.
"Just deal with her. You're gonna see her at school anyway," Jess pointed out.
"Wish me luck," he said, getting up and going over to her. She looked less like her usual self and was replaced with someone who looked...broken.
"Hi," she said.
"Hey," he replied. "What's up?"
"Wes, I'm...I'm really freaking out right now," Madison said. That's when Wes saw it.
"Madison, what happened to your face?" he asked, looking closer. She didn't even try to hide it.
"I fell," she said quietly.
"Oh, come on," Wes scoffed. "That's the oldest line in the book. What really happened to you?"
"My parents," she replied, her voice so small it was beginning to make him feel awful inside.
"Tell me," he said. So she did. Wes stood there and listened to her tell him all the times she had endured her father's wrath and her mother's warnings. He felt extremely angry then. He had even clenched his fists.
"I wasn't going to tell you," Madison said. "I knew you'd get angry and want to do something about it. Wes, you can't."
"He shouldn't have ever done that to you," Wes said angrily. "Nor your mom!"
"He's in jail, Wes. I left home. I'm staying with Caitlyn for now," she explained.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Wes demanded.
"Because I didn't want him to hurt you," Madison answered. He stood there looking at his ex girlfriend and wondered how he even missed it. Then he got thinking to all the times she had broken up with him abruptly and for no reason. It was beginning to click together.
"I'm sorry I ignored you. This whole thing with B...and you were pissed at me," Wes finished.
"I kind of have to think about more things than our pathetic relationship," Madison snapped. She wasn't getting what she wanted. Wes wasn't trying to get back with her out of pity. This was failing.
"I know," Wes agreed. He sensed what she wanted, and he couldn't give it to her.
"I'm just going to go then," she said.
"Madison," Wes called, making her turn around. "You gotta be strong in who you are before you can be strong with someone else." She stared at him. Then she swiveled around and left. Wes waited a few moments before leaving himself. It was almost dinner time, and he had promised his mom he'd be there.
Dottie
The next few days went by in a blur. Bianca was ready to be discharged, and Dottie was nowhere near ready. Mike had brought some of his things to the house to make it look like he still lived there. The dog was back too. Pepper. Dottie hadn't realized how much she had missed her.
"Are we ready for this?" Mike asked. They were in the car on their way to pick up Bianca.
"I hope so," Dottie answered quietly. It was going to be tough to pretend they were married again, but she'd do anything for Bianca right now. Upsetting her all over again just wasn't an option right now. If Bianca never regained her memory, which the doctor had to say could happen of course, then Dottie figured they could re-enact the whole divorce thing again. In some ways though, Dottie wasn't sure about that. She peeked over at Mike, who was watching the scenery go by. Things between them had been all right lately. They arrived at the hospital in no time, and they found a very eager Bianca waiting for them.
"I can't wait to go home!" Bianca cried. She hugged them tightly. "It feels like I've been in here for years."
"Hear, hear," Mike commented. They signed Bianca out and headed towards the exit. Dottie caught sight of the scar on Bianca's cheek. That unfortunately wasn't going to go away, but it almost made her daughter look tougher in a way.
"Pepper!" Bianca squealed, rushing to the car and getting greeted with sloppy kisses.
"Told you," Mike said. Dottie handed him five bucks. They had recently started up their betting game again, and Dottie was losing badly. It had been a while, though.
"Can Toby come over?" Bianca asked when they were on the road again.
"Maybe not tonight," Dottie said. "Let's get you settled and adjusted back to home life okay?"
"I guess," Bianca agreed. "When can I go back to school?"
"What do you remember about school?" Mike asked, curious.
"I'm in my senior year. I'm doing fairly well, and I have two best friends: Jess and Casey," Bianca answered.
"She remembers that but not us?" Mike muttered to Dottie.
"Shush," Dottie replied. "You remember what classes you were in?" she asked Bianca, changing the subject.
"I do," Bianca nodded. She rattled them off.
"I guess if you're feeling up to it then you can go," Dottie finally agreed. "But wait until Monday okay?"
"Try it, and if you're feeling overwhelmed, then skip a few more days," Mike suggested.
"Okay," Bianca beamed. She really did feel ready to go back to her normal life. She was tired of lying around useless. When they pulled into their driveway, she caught sight of the boy who had been by her side when she woke up. Wes she thought his name was. He looked at them almost mournfully before he went inside. Bianca missed the look shared between her mother and father.
"Come on, Pepper!" Bianca said, excited. They both bounded out of the vehicle and up the stairs to the front door. Dottie let them in. Mike followed with the bag from the hospital of Bianca's things. He turned to see Wes watching at the window, and he waved encouragingly. Then he too went inside.
Wes
It was hell watching her come home and not recognize him. It was torture not being able to run over and hug her. He wanted so badly to kiss her again like he did in the forest that day. Instead, he was sitting here watching her forget him and knowing that Toby was first and foremost on her mind. Man he wanted to knock that guy on his ass.
"Wes?" his mother asked cautiously. She could see he was upset.
"Yea, Mom?" he answered.
"Are you okay?"
"No, Mom. I'm not."
Madison
"He didn't even offer to get back together," Madison said to Caitlyn. "How horrible is that?!"
"Pretty shitty," Caitlyn agreed. "I mean, come on, you need the support right now."
"I do," Madison nodded. She really did. Her parents had been hysterical when the police had shown up. She wasn't really even sure who had notified them of the "disturbance." She half expected Caitlyn, but her friend hadn't been there when the screaming had started up again. Madison had hid away in her room, trying to ignore it all as usual. When the knock came on the door, nobody knew what to do. It was so out of their usual roles. Her father had been dragged away yelling and cursing. Her mother had cried. Madison had felt...nothing. She truly didn't feel anything anymore. Everything was numb. Everything felt pointless. On top of it all, she really wanted Wesley back. It hurt her that he couldn't see that.
Bianca
Her mother had made her promise to wait until the next week to start school again, so Bianca was finishing up the week and starting the weekend by being with Toby. She still couldn't believe they were dating. It was like a dream come true. She only wished she could remember how it had happened.
"You look great," Toby said smiling. He had even brought his guitar. SaWOON!
"Thanks," she smiled back. She felt a little nervous around him. After all, she wasn't sure how long they had been dating or if they had gone through all the bases yet. Her phone rang just then, so she looked at it. Casey. The girl always seemed to know when she was with Toby and tried to get her to come hang out.
"Casey, I'm busy," Bianca said, laughing. "Another time."
"But, it's Friday night, and we wanna go dancing!" Casey pleaded.
"I don't need to dance. I've got a nice thing going here," Bianca replied. She hung up before Casey could protest.
"Damn it," Casey said, looking at her phone. Jess was wringing her hands.
"What are we gonna do?" she asked Casey.
"Bring in the big guns," Casey replied.
...
"So, how did we get together?" Bianca asked. She felt Toby briefly stiffen behind her. They were sitting on her porch with her in his arms. It was a lovely starry night.
"You finally got up the nerve to talk to me and then we had dinner at my place," Toby explained. "It was chemistry from there."
"So we weren't really dating too long before my accident then?" Bianca asked.
"Not very long, no," Toby answered. He felt nervous that she'd piece it together, that he had been a total ass and missed what was right in front of him because he wanted something else.
"That's okay," Bianca said. "I feel better knowing I didn't forget like years of our relationship or something." She laughed, making him laugh too. Next door, a shape emerged onto the porch. Bianca casually looked over and saw that boy again. He looked almost angry. She noticed that Toby was shaking slightly.
"What's wrong?" she asked, turning her head up to look at him.
"Nothing," he said quickly. When she turned back, the boy next door was gone.
"Do I know him?" she asked.
"That's Wes. He goes to our school," Toby told her. "Are you excited for Monday?"
"Yes!" she cried. Toby breathed a sigh in relief. It was easy to distract her for now. Wes looked as though he wanted to murder him, and that made him feel very scared. He was enjoying this moment otherwise. Bianca was a nice girl. He felt bad that it took her almost dying before he realized that.
Mike
"What are you doing?" he asked, catching Dottie at the window. She dropped the blinds quickly.
"Nothing," she answered innocently.
"You're spying," he pointed out.
"Not spying. Observing," she corrected.
"And what did you observe?"
"That Wes is very mad at Toby, and our daughter is smitten with the wrong boy," she answered.
"Stay out of it," Mike warned.
"I know, I know. It just doesn't seem fair," Dottie sighed. Mike handed her the glass of wine he had gone to retrieve. She took it carefully and sipped while staring through the slats.
"It's been nice, being home," Mike said cautiously. He didn't want to scare her off, but he had a weird feeling she was experiencing similar thoughts as him.
"It's been...interesting," she smiled, turning to face him. She was indeed feeling similar to him. She just didn't know how to voice it. She felt it was like a betrayal to her book and everything she spoke to people about. There was no section in her speech that said Step 6: How to Rekindle a Marriage Despite Accepting It's Over. It looked like he was going to say something, but then he changed his mind. Mike felt like he was treading water carefully, and he wasn't ready to drown just yet. He didn't think he could handle a rejection right now. It was best to leave things as they were.
Wes
Damn it Toby was pissing him off. He paced his bedroom furiously. How dare the guy sit there and taunt him like that?! It was all he could do to not run over there and knock that stupid look of his stupid face. His phone buzzed.
We have a plan Casey wrote.
What? he asked.
You'll see on Monday.
...
AN: Well? What did you think?
