"You just arrived here about last year, didn't you?" Kamil couldn't help but ask. He nervously clenched his fists, running his thumb over his fingers. "You don't… remember where you were last year?"

Annie laughed softly and Kamil couldn't tell if it was genuine or not. "Oh, I made it complicated, didn't I? What I meant to say is: everything's just been a blur before I came to Oak Tree Town."

"Even the people?" he asked. The small breeze kept him cool, but he could feel his face heat up with adrenaline. He couldn't believe her. How could someone not remember where they used to live? Was he about to find out Annie's past? What happened to Lillian? He felt so close to getting an answer...

"The people…" she trailed off. She started playing with a lock of hair nervously. "Well, I don't really keep in contact with many of them anymore. I've just been so busy here, you know?"

"Like you started a new life," Kamil commented.

She nodded. "You could say that… Ah, no one's ever asked me about where I previously lived, actually, so I never know how to respond," she said. "I don't talk about it much either."

What was so wrong about where she previously lived? What was she hiding? Maybe he should ask her for the name of her hometown...

…Maybe he should stop. Maybe it wasn't the best time.

"I didn't mean to pry. I wanted to get to know more about you, but…" he said, worried. At first she said she would tell him her life story, the next she was avoiding his questions. Her thoughts were racing, just like this.

Annie smiled at him, making Kamil break their eye contact nervously. "No, no, I chose to tell you this." Her voice was soft, almost like she was scared.

He looked around, scanning the nature and the lake area where they stood. Surprisingly no one was around. Just the soothing sound of the lake water running, the chirping of birds in the distance, and the cool autumn air whispering at them. It was almost romantic, if not for the tension, the avoiding eyes, and nervous mannerisms. They could say anything they wanted to and no one would ever know. Kamil could say anything on his mind, what he thought about her, how he wanted to find Lillian, how he's so damn convinced Annie is Lillian...

He stopped her before she could say anything. "It doesn't have to be now. Take your time, really. I'm sorry again."

She inhaled slowly. "Okay. I'll stop now before I confuse you even more." She nervously glanced at her wrist, checking the time on her watch. "I better get going."

"Oh, sorry for keeping you."

"You don't need to keep apologizing. Thank you for trusting me enough… about your family, your friends… I'm still glad I could comfort you in some way and I got to learn more about you."

Before she could walk away from him, he added, "Know that you can trust me, too, Annie. With anything."

This made her touch his arm gently, causing his muscles to relax after being so tensed up. She replied, "Thank you, Kamil. You'll definitely hear more from me… when I'm better at explaining all of it." She laughed, and her bright attitude was suddenly back. They were both comfortable around each other again. Talking about her past was a touchy subject, for sure. The conversation went back to him. "If you're feeling homesick, Kamil, maybe it's time you gave them a visit? It wouldn't hurt."

Kamil placed his hand over where she had just touched him and agreed with her. "I think you're right."

He was back to square one again. He still didn't know anything about Annie. Once Annie was out of his sight, he collected himself and began to make a list of what he should bring to Bluebell, then decided he would leave for Bluebell Friday morning.

"You came back!"

Bluebell was just as he remembered: picturesque, charming, and... vibrant. Before Lillian left, this was the Bluebell he grew up in. This was the Bluebell he knew. Kamil was greeted by the villagers of Bluebell at the train station. Howard, Laney, Ash and his family, Georgia… When they heard he was stopping by Bluebell for the day, they all made sure to book the day off or at least make some time out of their busy day to see him. Now he was having lunch with his three friends: Laney, Ash, and Georgia. How he missed spending time with them. They laughed together, told each other stories, and brought Kamil up to speed with everything. Now, it was his turn.

"Oak Tree Town is lovely, the flowers, the people… everything," he told them.

"I'm so happy for you, Cam," Laney beamed, then sipped some of her drink. Georgia nodded, her soft, red hair bouncing up and down.

"The people are treatin' ya well at the inn?" Georgia wondered.

"Yes, but nothing beats conversations with Howard," Kamil laughed, and they joined in.

Laney whined, "Please visit more often so you can help me control him! Why, he always embarrasses me now that you're not here to tell him to be quiet!"

"How about your business?" Ash asked.

"It's going well," Kamil said honestly, "and I've learned so much."

"I'm happy you're happy, Cam!"

There was a long pause. Finally, Kamil broke the silence. "Sorry to bring this up… but I can't help it…" He gripped onto his mug, the warmth from his coffee spreading on his palm.

"We haven't heard from her," Laney answered, and he knew that they knew exactly what he was going to ask, "but we found out that she didn't want us to know she was leaving. Mayor Rutger doesn't even really know why."

"Even up to now?"

"Cam don't-" Ash began, but tears were already welling up in Laney's eyes.

"It's been so long since we talked about Lillian…" Laney said. "I just try to avoid the topic because none of us know why she left. It still hurts. I miss her. Most of the villagers just accepted it - they had to. There's nothing we could do." Georgia immediately hugged her and Ash glanced at them sadly.

Georgia said, still hugging her, "I believe she had something to do. Maybe there was another town that needed her help, the way she helped us and brought our towns together."

"But the timing of it all… She was found unconscious by the lake, taken to the hospital - we were worried sick - th-then when she's finally better she moves to another town? We didn't even know if she was fully recovered. How do we know our friend is okay?"

Ash scratched his head. "You have a point there, Laney. I've always wondered what could've happened to make her pick up her things and leave so out of the blue."

Kamil placed his hand on Laney's shoulder to comfort her. "Laney…"

"I'm so angry and sad at the same time," the girl admitted.

Georgia sighed as she let go of her. "I know. To us, it seems selfish of her to leave us without telling. It's not like her to do that. I'm not sure if we will ever find out why she did what she did… or what made her want to leave."

"As long as she's healthy, happy and better off, I'm fine," Ash said. "I just need some sort of confirmation, you know? Some closure."

"Maybe after the accident, she had to see her family?" Laney wondered.

"That might be it, but I'm gonna be mighty honest with y'all, I don't think she ever spoke of her family with us," Georgia said. "She's been our friend for a couple of years but we didn't know much about her parents. I recall her saying her mama grew up in the city?"

"Yes, and she moved here because she was overwhelmed by living in the city, right?" Kamil added. "Then she crashed her cart while moving in and forgot which town she was supposed to live in! I wouldn't be surprised if she forgot about us after that accident." He was ready to talk about Annie, the mysterious girl back in Oak Tree Town who looked so much like Lillian. He had to make sure he wasn't delusional. He needed his friends' input, right away. "So there's this girl-"

"Why couldn't she talk to us then? If she forgot, wouldn't she ask us and find out or get more professional help?" Laney demanded, as if they had the answers. She didn't even notice she cut off Kamil. "Why is her first instinct is to run away?"

Although they were all visibly upset, there was something comforting about finally expressing their thoughts on the whole situation. After bottling it up for so long, all of their feelings were finally let out. Georgia spoke up again, and her next words almost made Kamil drop his coffee.

"Maybe we never really knew what Annie was going through."

a/n: uhhh... hi! it's been a while... it's been two years, actually. i decided to pick this up again and added stuff in this chapter to make it longer because i felt so bad. if anyone's still keeping up with it, thank you for reading and for being patient. damn, i can't believe i'm posting this. i feel old on this website LMAO. if the writing style seems inconsistent, it's probably because it's been so long since i wrote a chapter. school kept me busy and i wouldn't be surprised if it changed the way i write. anyway, hope y'all have been doing well. thank you for reading and if you can leave me a review, that would be appreciated :)