Told ya. :)


(My POV)

I woke up late, of course, because my brother didn't wake me up. I got dressed quickly and ran into the kitchen to grab a bagel. My brother had left a note on the counter telling me he had left to get some groceries and would be back when I got home.

"Fine," I muttered to myself and bolted out the door to Ian and Anthony's.

I pounded on it three times before Ian had opened it.

"I need you to drive me to school!"

"Why?" he asked, still groggy. He got his keys, anyways.

"My brother is getting groceries and it's an hour walk from here to the school. I'm on fire from just standing here! C'mon, please?"

"Fine. Get in the car." He pointed to the garage.

I ran to it and jumped in the blue car.

"God." He shoved the key in the hole angrily. "It's 8 in the morning. For my girlfriend, you sure don't respect my sleeping schedule."

I got butterflies when he said 'girlfriend'. "Nope."

I looked up at his face, his crystal blue eyes sitting above dark shadows, and I found he was thinking hard about something. I decided to distract him. "Did you stay up all night editing again?"

He ignored my question. "You said you were hot a second ago...Why? You said you lived in Florida."

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. "It was never this hot. But you didn't answer my question."

He sighed. "Yes. I acctually passed out on the couch an hour before you started pounding on the door!"

I looked down at my shirt and twiddled my thumbs, frightened at his tone and volume. "Oh...Sorry..."

He glanced down at me. His expression softened a bit to regret. He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. "It's okay...I—...I shouldn't have yelled."

I turned my head slightly to kiss his hand.


"AnneMarie," my young French teacher called out from her desk.

At the sound of my name, my head jerked up from the pattern of hearts I was drawing. "Oui, Momma J?" I asked. She didn't like formal names and preferred we called her that. She also thought it would be better if we always talked in French in class to get used to it.

"Will you come here for a minute?" He gestured with her finger.

"Yes, Momma J." I stood up from my desk and crossed the classroom. "Yes?"

Her eyes were troubled. "Your brother just emailed me," she whispered. "He's coming to pick you up, honey. Your Auntie Tina passed away last night."

My eyes widened and my breathing picked up. "Je m'excuse, exuse me?"

"Je suis désolé, I'm sorry, Anne." She pat my hand gently. "Would you like a hug?" She stood up slowly.

I shook my head, feeling a bit sick. "Excusez moi."

I ran out of the room with my hand over my mouth, only to stop in front of a trash bin. I threw up my water and bagel, the only thing I had this morning, and then sat on the floor with my head in my hands.

"AnneMarie?" I heard Momma J mutter from in front of me.

"Yes, Momma J?" I managed to choke out between sobs.

"Oh, please. Call me Janice." She sat down criss-cross-applesauce in front of me and stroked my hair gently. "Are you gonna be okay?"

I noticed she wasn't speaking in French, a sign that she cared. I brushed that thought off and nodded weakly, still bawling.

"I think you need a hug, honey. C'mere." She wrapped her arm around me, rubbing my shoulders and lettimg me cry into her shirt.

"Momma J?" Jessica called out from across the hall. "AnneMarie's AnneMarie's brother is here."

"Thank you, Jess. Get back to work." She released me from the hug. "Go on home. Get some rest, eat some food, feel better." She squeezed me again. "May the lord watch over her and bless her soul," she recited in French.

I nodded and stood up. "Thank you." I walked down the hallway and to the lobby without getting my stuff.

"Annie," my brother said from a chair and stood up. "Are you okay?"

I ran over to him, nearly knocking him over from throwing my arms around him too hard. "How did she die?"

"She's had cancer for a long time, Sissy," he stated quietly. "I just found out about it."

"Did she die in peace?" I asked in my flawless French.

"Oui." He hugged me back.


Ian opened my window and put his elbows on the seal. "You okay?" he asked gently.

I shook my head and hugged my teddy tighter.

He made a face like he smelled something funny, which he probably did. "Have you been puking?" I nodded weakly and shut my eyes. "Aww, honey." He climbed in through the window and laid down on the be next to me. He kissed my warm forehead and stroked my hair like Momma J did. "What happened?"

A tear rolled down my cheek. I knew I was incapable of working without throwing up or bawling, so I pointed to my computer that was already turned on and with a video of me and Auntie Tina.

It was my first day of kindergarten in London. My brother and I were living with her then because neither of us were eighteen.

She was recording her and I when I had just got out of the car. I remember crying to her, "Auntie Tina, I don't like it here already." She just laughed at me and hugged me goodbye. I remember crying my eyes out when she had left.

A lot more than that happened that day before I had walked into the classroom. Auntie Tina and I had been goofing off before she told me I had to leave.

Ian watched the whole video. He laughed at some parts, but stopped when he saw 4-year-old me crying my eyes out about Auntie Tina leaving.

"Is she the reason that you're like this right now?" he asked when the video was over. I nodded. "She—"

I picked up the trash bin next to my bed and threw up into it.

His face turned from sympathy to shock. "Annie!" He ran over to my side and rubbed my back. "Shh. I'm sorry. It's okay. Shh."

I finally sat up and wiped my mouth with the rag next to my bed. I looked into Ian's eyes and he stared back, seeing something I couldn't feel.

"You can cry, now, honey."

And I did. I cried as hard as I could. Right when I was almost done, I stopped crying abruptly, my mind was less crowded, and the weight of one million men was lifted off of my shoulders. I looked into the eyes of the man holding me and didn't know a thing about him.


(Ian's POV)

"I wanna kiss a butterfly," Annie said in small British voice that belonged to a 3 year old.

"Annie?" I asked, slightly frightened.

"I wanna kiss a butterfly!" She started pouting.

"You...want to kiss a butterfly?" I stroked her cheek with my hand.

"Yeah!" She smiled at me.

"Annie, who's your brother?"

"My brother is Jacob and stop calling me that horrid name! I am AnneMarie, not Annie!"

"Do you know who I am?"

"No, and Auntie Tina said to never talk to strangers!" Right after she said that, her whole body began convulsing.

"AnneMarie," I made a face because the name didn't fit in my mouth, "can I hug you?" I felt stupid asking her that question.

"Sure! I love hugs!" She made no effort in moving.

"C'mere, then."

Her face turned confused. "I am."

"C'mere."

"I am!"

I wrapped my arms around her. "Do you know who I am?"

"No...Should I?"

"I'm Ian." I lifted her face to look into her eyes. "Remember?"

"No...I wanna kiss a butterfly...I—...I want...I want to..." Her body went limp in my arms, but she was still breathing; heavily, like she was sleeping.

I dropped her onto the bed suddenly, frightened I did something. "Jacob," I said loudly. Feeling something was really wrong, I stood up and shouted with a breaking voice, "JACOB!"

I ran into the living room, and he was on the phone with someone. He obviously hadn't heard me yelling through the closed door, for he was still talking in a flirtatious voice into the reciever. Knowing it was a girl, I ran over and hung it up.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, standing up.

"Shut up and listen!" I hissed at him. "Your sister just passed out in my arms! Something is very, very wrong!"

He looked slightly shaken. "What? What happened?"

"She kept saying 'I wanna kiss a butterfly' and then said she didn't know who I was and she was talking in a British accent and was talking about your Auntie Tina!" I took a deep breath.

His face got a bit more shocked. "British? She hasn't spoken with an English accent since she was 8!" His eyes got wide as he realized what was happening. "You said she passed out?" I nodded. His facial expression turned into pain and he looked towards her room. "She's lost her memory..."


BUM BUM BUM!

I think I did good on this chapter, and I'm kind of excited. The next chapter will be in Ian's point of view, so I get to write about his feelings and all that good crap! :) Next chapter will be up tomorrow because I'm not done yet, but stay with me because I'm going to have a lot of fun writing this chapter!