EDITED 11/18/15: Changed the ending since I didn't really like it.

Author's Note

Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter of "Amnesiac". Eh, sorry I took so long again. I had it typed up already, but I didn't have the time to edit it. This chapter is a flashback chapter. It does have a meaning to it or else I wouldn't put it in this story. This is also before Ruby met Velvet and when Ruby was a first year in high school. Prepare for angst too. I needed some of that back.

Thanks for the views everyone. So far it's up to 35,092 views. I appreciate that you guys stop by and read this story. Also thanks to those who favorited, followed, and reviewed. Keep it up!

Alright, see you at the end of this chapter.

Enjoy!

Song for this chapter: Lamb Game Between Male and Female-Catherine Ost(/watch?v=GWlmt0gxKSs)

Amnesiac

Chapter 25: The Kind, Old Man

There was a kind, old man who would always take shelter behind restaurants. All he had was a blanket and the clothes on his back. Some people who worked at the restaurants would give him food. I'd sit out there with him sometimes. He's a pretty cool person. He'd always give me advice about living on the streets and would share his food with me.

Not once did he question me about my age. That's how I liked it.

"Thirsty?" He asked, pulling out his canteen from his blanket.

We were sitting behind a diner this time. It was the weekend and I didn't really have anything to do. I usually check behind certain restaurants to see if the old man is sitting there. He tends to move from place to place. It's basically whatever he's comfortable with.

"Yea," I replied.

He handed me his canteen.

"So how're you doing, Missy?" He asked, watching me take a sip from the canteen.

I gave him back his drink before answering, "Good."

"That's good. Living homeless still hard?"

I waved my hand.

"A little," I told him. "It's really hard to get food. Open food I mean. All I get is canned goods. How the hell am I supposed to open it if I don't have a can opener? The least I could get is those cans with the easy open lid."

I sighed.

"It sucks."

He chuckled before pulling something else out of his blanket. I couldn't tell what it was.

"I meant to give you something," he said, before pressing a button on the thing.

Out comes a sharp blade. I winced a little as it popped out.

He hands me the blade and I exam it for a while. It looked pretty new. It wasn't rusted and there weren't any scratches on it. It's like the man didn't even use it.

"Got it from a buddy of mine," he told me. "I don't really need it but I recommend that you keep it." He watched me continuing on looking at the blade. He seemed quite amused. "Just press the button to have it go back in. Be careful with it too. The blade's really sharp. Nicked myself trying to put it in my pocket."

"Okay."

I pressed the button so the blade would go back in and put it in my bag. Now I can use it for those goddamn food cans.

"Do you ever wish that one day you're going to start living in a home instead of the streets?" I asked him.

He laughed.

"I've been wishin that my whole life living here, Missy," he answered. He cleared his throat for a moment after he was done laughing. "I used to be a very decent man. I wasn't rich, yet I wasn't poor. I was one of those middle class people, y'know?" I nodded. "I just didn't do anything with my life. I didn't know what I was doing. I just thought that if I get a job and live in a nice home, I'd be great for the rest of my life. I wasn't great. For my whole life I was living without knowing what I wanted to do. Don't make the same mistake I did Missy. It's too late for me now but you..." He waved his finger at me and smiled "...you're still young. You have a loooong life ahead of you. How old are you again?"

"Fifteen," I told him.

"Fifteen," he repeated, running a hand through his hair. "You are fifteen years old. You are so young living on the streets. Probably lived out here at an even younger age. Don't you...no...make sure you know what you're going to do with your life. Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't live out here for the rest of your life. It's going to suck and I should know cuz look where I am now."

I nodded.

"I'll make sure I don't sir," I said.

He smiled.

"Do good out there Missy," he told me. "People are going to expect a lot from you. Be careful."

At school all I could think about was that old man and the advice he gave me. Seriously though. What do I wanna do with my life? Just thinking about it makes me a little scared.

"Hey Rubes," came a voice. "You okay?"

I shook myself out of my daze and looking at who was talking to me. It was the blonde of course.

"Huh?" I answered.

She stared at me with a raised eyebrow and confused smile.

"You haven't...touched your food," she told me.

I looked down at my lunch. It was just a sandwich and a soda. There was nothing else good. I looked up at the rest of the group, who were now staring at me as if something was wrong.

"I'm fine," I said. "Just tired. That's all."

I made sure to do a pretend yawn, trying to get them to buy it. They did thankfully.

"Well anyway, I was just talking about this cool guy I met at the store," said she said.

Nikos starts giggling.

"Yang remember the last time you saw a cool guy?" She asked. "You scared him off."

The blonde rolled her eyes.

"This is different," she told her. "He's letting me get a discount on the clothes he sells at his store. Cheap place but nice clothing."

She grins.

She continued talking about this guy and his store until lunch was over. I never even touched my food. I just sat there and tuned everybody out like I always do. They didn't mind though. They just thought that I was tired like I told them.

"They just get on my damn nerves!" I whined. "I wish they would just leave me alone. Including that damned blonde girl."

I crossed my arms and sat there, pouting at the old man. He just laughed. Other than discussing my life on the streets to him, I'd also talk to him about my school life and my annoying "friends".

"All they wanna do is talk to you, " he told me, taking out his canteen and taking a drink from it.

"Well I don't," I replied with a frown. "They don't know shit about me."

"That's because you don't want them to." He said as he put the canteen away. "I understand you don't want any friends, Missy, but you know you can't do all of this on your own. I was a stubborn person too. I ended up alone all my life with no one to go to. Just...find someone you can go to. Someone that's not me."

I don't say anything. Instead, I just sit there with a frown on my face.

Dammed man always knew what to say. I can't even snap at him since he knows more than me. All I can do is just keep quiet.

A woman came out the restaurant we were sitting behind with a plate of food in her hand. I quickly hid under the man's blanket so she wouldn't see me. If she saw me, she'd question as to why I was with him.

"Here you go sir," I heard her say. "I'll send someone out here to pick up your plate in an hour."

"Thank you so much dear," he replied.

"No problem." I heard the sound of her footsteps for a while until it disappeared. Then, I heard the man clear his throat.

"She's gone now Missy," he told me.

I came out from under the blankets and looked at his plate of food. On the plate was chicken tenders, french fries, and barbeque sauce and ketchup. It looked really good.

"Hungry?" He asked. "You look like you are. Did you even eat lunch?"

"I didn't," I replied. "I got distracted."

"So that prevented you from eating?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

I glared at him.

"It's hard to explain!" I snapped.

He just grinned and shook his head as he started dividing up his food. He always knew how to piss me off sometimes. I hated when he did that raised eyebrow look. He'd do it on purpose just to make me mad. I only snap on him of course.

"There you go Missy," he said once he was done. "Bon appétit."

I giggled and started eating the food. I must've been really hungry because I just wolfed everything down just like that. The man didn't say anything though, he only chuckled.

After we ate, I made sure to leave before someone came out to take the man's plate. I told him to have a good day and he said the same for me. I decided to sleep in the subway station for the night since I didn't have anywhere else to go to. I didn't want to stay with the old man because of the people that were at the restaurant.

I made a bench my bed that was far away from any people. Then, I pulled my hood over my head and curled up on the bench for the night.

It was cold.

It was uncomfortable.

I constantly woke up due to the trains passing by and the people. No one noticed me throughout the night. They never did, but I didn't care. I didn't want them to.

I woke up with a stiff neck and a pained back. Those are the worst combinations ever. I checked the clock that was at the station to see what time it was. 7:00.

I had to get to school even if I was in pain. I can't let my perfect attendance get ruined.

School was a pain in the ass like always. The blonde and her goons kept talking to me. Cardin and his goons wouldn't stop messing with me. The ice queen was yelling at someone for dust knows why. P.E. didn't help my back or neck in any way. It only made it worse. Today was not a good day.

I was walking to my locker to get my stuff, when I bumped into Cardin. You've got to be kidding me. He already bothered me earlier, why again?

"Watch where you're going trash," he said.

Keep talking about yourself, I thought as I tried to walk past him. The weird thing is that his buddies aren't with him. That's strange.

He didn't let me and instead moved in my way. I glared up at him as he smirked down at me.

"Oh don't look at me like that," he said.

"Then get out of my way," I growled.

He laughed.

"You don't belong here," he told me. "Why don't you just turn around and leave?"

I clenched my fists as well as my jaw. This guy is really testing my patience right now. If he doesn't move, my perfect attendance will most likely be ruined.

"Cardin," I started, "get the fuck out of my way."

"Nice choice of words Rose," he said, looking amused as ever. "Trash talking suits you since that's your only language."

I take a deep breath and try to shove past him. That outcome only got me a shove to the ground. I glared up at him if that would do me any good.

He laughed like a maniac as I just sat there. Fuck this school.

Just then, a tall figure comes up behind him. My eyebrows raised in surprise seeing that the figure was that blonde. She looked furious.

"Cardin!" Her voice boomed.

His eyes went wide as he turned around.

"Y-Y-Y..." He couldn't even say her name due to how terrified he was.

"If I ever see you messing with Ruby again, I will kick your fucking ass!" She hissed.

He didn't say anything and just ran away. In that time, I managed to pull myself up from the ground as the blonde watched him run away.

She turned around and looked at me.

"You okay Rubes?" She asked.

I nodded.

"Yea, thanks," I told her, then started to walk away.

She grabbed my wrist, stopping me. I frowned at her.

"What do you want?" I asked.

She frowned.

"I just wanna know what's up," she answered. "You've been acting like this the first day you got here."

"It's none of your damn business," I hissed, scowling at her. "We are not friends."

That got her.

My wrist slipped out of her grasp. I looked at her, frown still on my face. She just stared at me in shock. Why was she so surprised by this? She should know that I didn't like her or any of her friends. I didn't even want to sit with them. They forced me to.

Her shocked expression turned into a sad smile as she looked at the floor.

"You just seemed lonely and I thought that you might've wanted a friend," she said softly.

"Not everyone wants friends," I told her. "I'm one of those people."

She looked up, "But I-"

I cut her off.

"Just ignore me from now on," I said and walked off.

I know it was mean, but she doesn't know me and I don't even know her. I don't want to risk myself getting in trouble. I don't want anybody to know about my life on the streets.

I decided to eat at the diner with the little money I had. I didn't feel like talking to that old man today. I know for a fact that I'd blurt out what happened at school. I know he'd say something that would piss me off. He may be a wise old man, but he also gets on my goddamn nerves sometimes.

I sat in the booths with my hood up so no one from my school would notice me. I'm saying that because Nikos was there with Valkyrie. And they decided to take the seat behind me. What the hell?!

The waiter handed me my food, which was a cheeseburger and french fries, and moved over to take their order.

I sighed and started eating.

I chose the worst time to go to the diner. Once he leaves their table, the two start talking.

Now, I'm not the kind of person to eavesdrop, but I was listening in on their conversation. It wasn't my fault that they sat behind me. I can't even stop myself from listening to them.

"I really don't know what's going on with Yang all of a sudden," said what sounded to be like Nikos. "She was fine earlier, and then, later on, she just seemed out of it. Something must've happened."

"You think it has something to do with Ruby?" asked Valkyrie.

I stop eating, jaw clenching at the sound of my name.

Nikos sighed.

"I guess so," she answered. "That girl...she's just so...different, you know?"

I had the urge to snap at them.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, she never smiles and it's like something's always going on with her. I just feel like maybe Yang is wasting her time on the girl. It's obvious that she doesn't want any friends." Finally someone gets it! "She needs to stop trying."

"That's a little harsh Pyrrha," said Valkyrie.

"It's not like I'm saying that I don't like the girl," she replied with a huff. "I do like her, but she just doesn't want to be bothered, that's all."

"Oh." Valkyrie sighed. "Though, I do feel bad for Yang."

"Same."

I don't know why, but I found myself crying. It wasn't that loud crying either. Tears were just falling down my face and getting on my damn food. A sound never came out of me. Why the hell am I even crying? They didn't say anything that hurt me or anything. Then why the hell...

"We should take her out," Valkyrie suggested.

"Where though?" Asked Nikos.

"Somewhere she'd like to go," she told her.

"I guess..."

Can those two just shut the hell up and talk about something else? I wiped the tears from my eyes and pushed my plate away. I don't want to eat bitter food.

On the weekend I went to chat with the old man again. I never mentioned what happened at school. Everything was fine at school after that incident away. The blonde did as she was told and ignored me. It didn't bother me at all since I was alone my whole life from what I remember. Even when I sat alone at lunch, none of them bothered me. They just went back to talking as if they didn't even know who I was. Though, I did catch the girl glancing back at me from time to time. She didn't say anything. Only looked.

I finally got sick of that old man. I didn't want to talk to him anymore. I told him that too. He just smiled and said, "I understand." That made me angry too. I was just so angry for some reason. I don't even know what I was angry about. I know it can't just be the old man, or that blonde and her friends, or goddamn Cardin Winchester.

What the hell was I upset about?!

I took a trip to the park and just sat at the bench. Alone. No one was at the park. It was just me. I started crying for no apparent reason just like at the diner. Hell, I wasn't even crying. I was sobbing. I sounded so...terrible. Pathetic.

I was angry at myself.

I've always been. I just never noticed it. No. I did know. I was just denying it. I was lying to myself like I always do. It sucked.

I was a goddamn mess.

The next day, school was pretty decent again. Nothing really interesting happened. It was just the same thing.

I put my books into my locker and left the school at the end of the day. Coming outside, I noticed the blonde was standing near her motorcycle, looking at it for some odd reason.

I stopped in my tracks and just stared.

Throughout they days I was by myself at school, I realized that I was being cruel. I couldn't believe I was saying this, but the old man was right. Jeez I felt like a total dick.

As if the blonde felt my stare, she turned around and saw me. Her eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Hey," I greeted.

She didn't say anything for a while. She just stood there and looked at me in surprise.

"Uh...hey," she finally replied. "Um...what's up?"

I slowly approached her and stopped a few feet in front of her.

"I just...I..." I sighed. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior. I'm just not used to...having friends. I never really had any anyway. I'm only used to being alone."

Her surprised look disappeared and turned into a warm smile.

"I forgive you," she said. "I was never mad at you, to be honest."

Now it was my turn to be surprised.

"You weren't?"

She shook her head.

"No. I was being too forward with you. I could always tell that you felt uncomfortable around me and the others. I just thought that you still needed to get used to us, that's all. I'm sorry for being so forward."

I blinked.

"I-It's okay Yang!" I told her. "You didn't have to apologize."

"I needed to," she replied.

I just nodded, unable to say anything else. She placed her hands on her hips and turned around to look at her motorcycle. She sighed.

"What's wrong with you bike?" I asked.

"It's scratched," she answered. "I just got this too."

"Dang, if only I knew about cars and motorcycles, I'd help you out," I told her.

She grinned.

"I'm sure you would." She laughed.

"Well, I gotta go," I said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She nodded.

"See ya Ruby."

I was in the mood to talk to the old man again. I know I was sick of him, but it'd be nice to see him again. Maybe I should apologize for my behavior.

I checked each restaurant that he usually hung out at. He wasn't anywhere. At the back of the diner his blanket was there, but not him. I was starting to get worried. Where the hell was he?

I ended up giving up after about an hour. Maybe he went somewhere else, I don't know, but then his blanket wouldn't be in the back of the diner.

The next days I still didn't see him anywhere. I didn't even here anything on the news that could be about him. There was nothing. The people who worked at the restaurants were even wondering where he was. He just disappeared.

Author's Note

Well that's it for now. I had to bring back that stubborn little shit Ruby. Well, I wanted to. Also, in the beginning, Ruby kept referring to Yang as "the blonde". Now, she just calls Yang her regular name. She may change what she calls her other friends soon too.

Anyway, how was this chapter? Was it good? Was it bad? How's the story so far? Any likes? Dislikes? Please review and let me know what you think. If you have any questions, please review, pm, or ask me on my tumblr account(link in bio) and I'll kindly answer them.

Alright then. Til next time. Over and out!