Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
((Post-series fic AU; angst - Drake/Mindy, Drake/OFC - Rating: T; Words: 998))
Inspiration drawn from the movie of the same title.
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Mindy saw it coming from a mile away and still she let Drake break her heart. Everything had been going so well. They had been so happy. They had been in love.
She had thought that he loved her, but, if he did, wouldn't he have kept every other woman at an arm's length? He would have pushed them all away. He wouldn't have let even the one get close enough to wrap herself around him, in public, surrounded by flashing lights, the compromising position caught on film. It doesn't matter that he didn't sleep with her (or any of the others).
"Just a little harmless drunken making out," he'd claimed. "It didn't mean anything."
"Except it means that I don't mean enough," she'd said sadly, slowly twisting the diamond solitaire from her left ring finger then setting it down on the counter and sliding it towards him.
He had stared at the ring as the realization that he'd genuinely messed up hit him and that Mindy wasn't just going to get over it. He had followed her to the door. He could fix this. "That's not true."
She had walked out the door, blocking out the sounds of his protests, his declarations of love—lies.
It seemed the best option at the time, having every single memory she shared with Drake Parker erased from her mind. She can't feel the heartache if she doesn't remember it, right?
She told her family and friends. She asked Josh to pass the message along to Drake.
"She can't do that. She can't just forget. That's not…how it that possible?"
Josh shrugged. "I don't know but there's these experimental satellite clinics. It's a non-invasive procedure—"
"A non-in-what?"
"It means they don't actually do surgery."
"Oh." Drake sat down, the full gravity of the situation washing over him. "She really wants to forget me and everything we had? I mean, not just me screwing up?"
Josh looked down. "She doesn't even want to remember that you exist."
"But that's not how it works, though, right? I mean, she can't forget all about me. She has to remember me. She'll still know me and who I am, right?"
"I don't really know how it works, Drake, but I guess she'll still have her memories of you that have nothing to do with your relationship."
Drake swallowed. "When is she doing it?"
Josh looked up at him, conflicted. "I can't tell you that."
"Come on, Josh. If she forgets, she won't remember and then I can't ever make this right!"
"She doesn't want you to make it right. She wants for nothing to have been wrong in the first place."
Drake deflated, his eyes filled with pain and regret. "Josh…"
Josh shook his head. "She's probably on her way to the clinic now."
Drake's eyes widened and he rose, grabbing his keys. "I have to stop her from doing this. Where—"
Reluctantly, Josh gave him the directions and tried to stall him as much as possible. He felt bad for Drake but Mindy had made up her mind; it's what she wanted.
"Goddammit." He gets caught in traffic. Of course, he gets caught in traffic. "Dammit!"
He hopes and prays that he's not too late. "Please, please, let me get there in time."
Drake pulls into the parking lot and scrambles out of his car. He spots Mindy standing at her own car. He lets out a sigh of relief as he dashes over to her. "Mindy!"
She looks up, turning as sees Drake approaching her. She raises both of her eyebrows and cocks her head to the side for a moment. "Drake?"
He exhales as he stops in front of her, grinning.
"Wow. I haven't seen you since high school."
His heart drops and the smile falls from his face. "What?" He's too late. "No."
"Yes," she nods her head slowly, giving him a concerned look. "Well, I mean, I think we ran into each other briefly a few times during some of my college breaks. Are you okay? You look like a kicked puppy."
"I—" he starts. He might cry. He might really cry. It was just some small stupid thing and he hadn't… And now she's gone and gotten rid of every memory they made together. It's really over. As far as she knows, they never happened. They never had anything. They never were anything. They…
"Drake?"
He looks at her, with a renewed sense of hope, a bold idea in his head. A light enters his eyes and a small smile forms on his lips.
The words come out in a rush. "I do stupid shit sometimes, like hanging out with groupies and fans and random woman who don't care that I'm a musician and want to hook-up with me. Sometimes I drink too much. Actually, I do that a lot, but I'm working on drinking less and in moderation. Occasionally I used to take pills but I don't do that anymore. I'm sorry for every mean and or hurtful thing that I ever said or done to you, whether it was on purpose or not."
Mindy looks completely baffled and a bit overwhelmed. "Oh my God. Are you dying? Or in an addicts program?"
Drake snorts. "No, to both."
"Then why are you baring you soul to me in the middle of a parking lot when we haven't seen or spoken to each other in years? Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't appreciate the apology, but the rest—"
He cuts her off by pressing his lips to hers. She doesn't move, her eyes remain open, and then she starts to flail her arms a little. His kiss is insistent and she can't remember ever having felt a kiss so right, like there are fireworks, and she melts into it.
After a minute, he pulls back. "Would you like to go to dinner?"
She gawks at him, shocked and incredibly confused. "I… Okay."