Chapter Fifty-Three
I stood there for a second and watched them walk away. I thought about not following them. I thought about going off on my own and trying to find my way out on my own.
"It would be pretty convenient to have no memories right now, huh?" asked a voice behind me.
I jumped and turned. Kaiba was standing behind me.
I turned back to watch the others again.
"I thought everyone had already left," I said.
"No, I waited here. I heard what you said about not trusting Noah," he said. "I don't either."
"Good," I said. "It would be stupid to trust him."
"Let's go," said Kaiba.
I looked at him. "What makes you think I'm going with everyone?" I asked.
"Because I'm not giving you a choice," he said.
"You don't control me," I said.
"You're right. But I'm stronger than you and I will pick you up and carry you out of here if I have to," he said.
I narrowed my eyes and we stared at each other in silence for a second.
He took a quick step towards me.
"Fine," I said. I started walking.
He chuckled and started after me.
"How did you know I had my memory back?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Just the way you're acting around everyone seems different," he said. "I can't explain it, but I dated you for quite a while, Olive. I like to think I know you pretty well."
"I don't even know me pretty well," I said.
"Good thing I'm here then," he said.
"Yea, thank the gods for Seto Kaiba," I said, sarcastically.
"I might have liked the Olive with no memory a little better," he commented.
"Why is that?" I asked. "Because she had no memory of what a jerk you could be?"
"Something like that," he said.
We walked in silence for a little while. I looked at him, but he was already looking at me so I looked away quickly.
"Do you remember anything that's happened here?" he asked me.
"Sure," I said, nodding. "I remember everything. It just is sort of strange."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
I thought about it for a second and then said, "It's strange because when I look at you, I remember how I met you. I recall all of our memories, including everything that happened here. But there's a part of me that still feels like those memories are missing. It still seems like I don't know you, or anyone, at all and like you're all complete strangers. It's just really weird."
"How can you know me and still feel like I'm a stranger?" he asked.
"That's just how it is," I said. "I didn't say it makes sense."
"There is so little about you that does make sense," he commented.
I rolled my eyes and stopped talking.
"So you remember meeting up with us in the woods?" Kaiba asked me.
I nodded.
"And you remember taking my hand? You remember me telling you that it might be nice if you didn't get your memories back?" he asked me.
"Yes," I said. "And I remember not knowing if you were serious or joking."
He smiled a little bit. "You remember walking through that door in the forest?" he asked.
"Yes, and I remember being pretty freaked out when you almost hit me," I said.
"I wasn't going to hit you," he protested. "I wouldn't hit you, Olive."
"You hit me once before," I said. I stopped walking and faced him. "When we were at Duelist Kingdom."
"That was an accident," said Kaiba. "And I still feel really horrible for that. You tried to save Mokuba," he reached out and ran his thumb over the scar I had on my face from Duelist Kingdom, "and I repaid you by hitting you. I'm sorry."
I shrugged. "It's in the past," I said.
"You remember going from the beach to the desert?" he asked me.
I nodded.
"And you remember sleeping in the desert?" he asked.
"Yes," I said.
"You said that if you ever got your memories back you would want to talk about what happened between us," he said.
I was silent. "That was before I got my memories back," I said, after a minute.
"So now you don't?" he asked.
"I don't know," I said. "What is there to talk about?"
"Why did you leave without telling me last summer?" he asked.
"Was I supposed to tell you?" I asked.
"No, I guess not," he said.
"So why do you care?" I asked.
"Because I missed you, Olive," he said. "After Duelist Kingdom…" he paused, frustrated and ran his fingers through his hair. "I thought things were getting better between us. Or at least I thought they would or I hoped they would. I don't know what I thought, Olive, but I thought things were getting better." He stared at me for a second. "I miss you, Olive."
I stared at him, feeling sad and confused. I wanted to say something reassuring. I wanted to say the right thing, but I didn't know what to say and so I didn't say anything at all.
"Do you remember what happened in the desert?" he asked.
I pursed my lips and thought about lying. "I remember kissing," I said. "I remember…thinking that things would go further. I remember stopping because we didn't know if I would remember or not. I remember falling asleep with you."
"Does any part of you still have any sort of feeling for me at all?" he asked.
"I have feelings for other people too," I said.
"Too?" he asked.
I nodded, slowly.
"So you do have feelings for me?" he asked.
Again, I hesitated. But then I nodded.
He smiled only slightly, and then turned his head. He smiled again.
"Come on," he said. "We need to catch up."
"Okay," I said.
