Thanks for all the reviews, I really appreciate it. Here's the next part, enjoy!
Neither Merton nor Lori slept well that night, after Tommy left they stayed for hours, Merton trying futilely to find out the cause of Tommy's amnesia and a cure for it, Lori pacing up and down the lair, unable to sit still long enough to help. It seemed an impossible task, Merton could find nothing useful and Lori was distracting him. When she eventually left Merton was still as stumped as before, and left alone with his thoughts all he could do was think about his life before he met Tommy and worry that if he didn't get better he might find himself with no friends again. True, Tommy had needed him when he first became a werewolf and it was possible he would need him again now he had forgotten everything he needed to know, but he had found out what he was differently this time. Merton didn't know whether Tommy would ever have considered him a friend if the first time they met he had refused to let him leave the lair then got someone to kick him in the shin and turn him into a werewolf. In fact he was fairly sure he wouldn't.
Not for the first time, Merton fell asleep without even getting close to his bed. His head rested on the book he had been reading and he woke up several times in discomfort but didn't have the energy to move.
The first thing Tommy noticed when he woke up the next morning was that he didn't remember going to bed, the second thing was that he hadn't actually gone to bed, he'd just flopped on top of it, and the third thing he noticed was that when he stood up his leg hurt. Rolling up his trouser leg he winced at the sight of a large purple bruise. He didn't remember hurting his leg in the fight last night, but strangely enough he didn't remember anything after they defeated the Gorath. He prodded the bruise experimentally then wished he hadn't. A glance at the clock told him he had overslept by over half an hour, so he rushed into the bathroom, broke the world clothes changing record, grabbed some breakfast and ran out of the door, managing to make it through the school door a full five minutes before his first class.
"Merton, what happened last night?"
Merton almost dropped the books he was pulling out of his locker when he heard Tommy's voice. "You remember me?" he asked hopefully.
Tommy stared at him for a second, trying to work out whether he'd missed out on some joke, "Of course I remember you, why wouldn't I? What I don't remember is anything that happened last night after I fought that monster."
Merton sighed a huge sigh of relief and fought back the urge to embarrass his friend with a huge hug, "I was so worried about you, we both were." He told him and explained what had happened the previous night as they walked to class.
"I really didn't know who you were? That's really weird." Tommy's face wore a worried look, he didn't like the idea of not remembering something, it had bothered him enough that he couldn't remember a few hours on one night, the idea of forgetting a whole year was disturbing to say the least.
Merton hesitated, "Actually you did say you recognised me eventually, then you insulted me. It was just before Lori kicked you to make you wolf out."
"Oh, sorry about that. So that's what happened to my leg, I've got a really painful bruise there. She must kick harder than you."
"Yeah, well she is a kick boxer, and it's a good thing too or I'd have been even more insulted at your implication that I can't kick as hard as a girl."
Tommy shrugged and sat down, pretending to listen to the teacher while he tried to imagine himself the night before. All he could do was think about how freaked out he felt when he first became a werewolf then multiply it by two or three. He had known something was happening to him before he changed completely, he couldn't imagine what it would have been like to be confronted by two strangers telling him something so unbelievable and then have it proved to him like that. Yet apparently that was what had happened to him only a few hours earlier.
Apart from when he was preparing for some Gothic Fantasy Guild function and needed to be noticed, Merton generally didn't like to attract too much attention when he was at school. Drawing attention to himself meant being noticed by the wrong people, namely Tim and Travis, who caused him enough trouble as it was. Before he became friends with Tommy and then Lori it wasn't unusual for him to go for days without speaking to anyone. He preferred to go unnoticed by most of the students unless there was a good reason. His idea of a good reason didn't normally include the fact that he was eating his lunch.
Tommy was heading over to Merton's empty table with a tray full of chicken, Merton was facing the wrong way to notice him until he heard the crash. He, along with the rest of the student body turned to see what had happened and saw to their amazement that Tommy Dawkins was standing in the middle of the room, chicken all over the floor, staring directly at Merton.
Before Merton had the chance to say or do anything, Tommy rushed towards him, seemingly oblivious to anyone else in the room. "This isn't possible, how can you be just be here, eating?" he asked before throwing his arms around the smaller boy and squeezing tightly, planting a kiss on his forehead.
Merton's eyes widened in panic and he struggled free of Tommy's iron grip and dragged him out of the cafeteria. "What are you doing? I can't believe I didn't hug you earlier because I thought you'd be embarrassed!"
"I thought you were dead."
Tommy moved to hug Merton again but Merton pre-empted the move and stepped back, "How could I be dead? You saw me an hour ago, what's wrong with you?"
By now a crowd had gathered at the door to the cafeteria and was watching in fascination to see what would happen next. Merton pulled Tommy into the nearest empty classroom and closed the door. "What's wrong with you?" He repeated.
"This is impossible, you're dead, I saw you die." Tommy was shaking his head, his eyes fixed on his friend.
"When?!"
"Nearly four years ago, I fought as hard as I could but…" He broke off, for the first time looking at something other than Merton and realising where he was. "The school? What are we doing here?"
"If I had to hazard a guess I'd say it's because we're students here! What's gotten into you, Tommy? Is this something to do with last night?" Merton tried unsuccessfully to hide the concern in his eyes.
Tommy wore a confused expression as he moved his gaze back to Merton, as he spoke his expression changed from confusion to joy, "If we're students here, that means it's the past. If it's the past then you're still alive, I can do it all over again, I can save you!" Tommy grabbed hold of Merton again and hugged him even tighter, this time kissing him on the lips.
"Yeuch! Tommy!"
"What's the date?"
"Date?!" Merton froze in confusion, temporarily misunderstanding what Tommy was asking him, "Oh right, the date as in the date that it is." He had to think for a moment to get his mind started working properly again and he remembered and told Tommy.
Tommy grinned, "Then there's time, I'll see you later, I've got to see my family."
He opened the door and ran out, leaving Merton staring after him down the corridor still full of curious students, "Wait a minute!" Merton yelled after him but Tommy either ignored him or didn't hear, " Yeah, you go do that then," He yelled instead, "and stop kissing me!" he ducked back inside the classroom to avoid the stares of the students that were still lingering hoping for more to gossip about, "Big trouble!" he muttered then ran out of the door himself, looking for the one other person he could tell.