Graham sighed, the strap of his shoulder bag weighing him down more than it should've. He'd been released from the hospital, finally, and his parents were going to pick him up at the curb in just a few minutes.

His mind was scattered. The past few days had been a mess of talking to physiologists and doctors, trying to see if there was even a smidge that he would remember from the memories that had been taken.

Over a year and a half...

"Graham? You seem to be feeling better now."

He turned to see Charlie walking hesitantly to him, now dressed in a hoodie and jeans. "Your shift ends early," he commented, hoping his voice didn't have an edge.

"I've been on my shift for the past couple days, actually. Helping Dr. Jameson take care of you."

Graham startled a little, his bag jostling as he turned more fully to her. Her blue eyes had dark bags under them, he could see now. Although, she was rather pretty. She had pulled her brown hair into a loose tail, and it accented her rosy cheeks. Finding his throat tight for some reason, he coughed, looking for a topic of conversation. "I, uh- I like your pin."

Charlie blinked, lips making a little O as she realized what he meant. She smiled, plucking the pin from her sleeve cuff. It had baby blue and pink stripes on it, a white one in the middle. Trans pride. "Thanks, I adore it. It's the only one I've managed to find at the places I've checked. Are you...?"

It took him a moment to realize what she was saying, and he started to shake his head before pausing. "Part of the community? I'm actually... not sure, really. Who knows if I had a boyfriend or something while I was in America? I just can't remember. Guess that's something about myself I'll have to re-analyze."

Charlie smiled at this. "Very cool."

Graham found himself returning it. "Cool."

There were a few moments of semi-awkward silence, in which Graham's mind was racing. Charlie had agreed that he knew her. Which meant either they'd met over the time period that he couldn't remember, or some of his earlier memories had been damaged. "So, um, about what happened earlier, do we-"

"We know each other, yeah," she rushed suddenly, her eyebrows quirking up with anxiety. "From before you left for America. We, um."

Graham frowned. "We what?"

"We were dating when you left."

He froze. "I... like, in the middle of dating?"

She nodded slowly.

"And I just... left?"

Another nod.

Graham blew out a puff of air. "Oh man, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I was such a jerk."

Charlie shrugged, her eyes downcast. "You never explained where you were going, and you never called and you didn't come back for months so I just... figured we were over."

"You wouldn't mind going on a date with me, would you?" Graham suddenly said, his face heating as Charlie's head whipped up, mouth agape. "To, uh, make up for just dipping. You didn't deserve that. Probably."

There was silence, until Charlie shook her head shyly, her nimble fingers toying with her pin. "I think maybe... I should let you reacquaint yourself with your life here in Australia. Perhaps then, we can be sure that even going somewhere together is a good idea."

Graham's heart sunk, but he smiled in understanding. "That's probably smart, I'll admit."

His parents pulled up in their car, faces smiling and happy to have him back.

"Well, I- uh... I've gotta go."

Charlie suddenly perked a bit. "My number will be on your patient records, just in case."

His brows quirked up. "O-ok."

His mother didn't speak up for a couple of minutes after they had started driving. "Do you remember Charlie, darling?"

"Not... really. But maybe I will. One day, I don't know."

Im debating between making a part three for this and possibly a part four- but for now I'll just say I don't know. Let me know what you think, I guess. 😂 sorry this one was pretty short, but I hope you liked it!

ALSO HOLY CRAP GUYS

53.5K READS????

KSHSJSHJSBSKSHSKSBSJBSKS

THATS AMAZING THANK YALL SO MUCH 😭❤️