He was exhausted. All he wanted to do was sleep, to close his eyes and see that boy, the boy in his dreams. His parents were worried, Avi was worried, but no one was more worried than he was. He hated the tests, the scans and MRIs. He’d been stuck with more needles than he’d ever cared to in his entire life.

He wasn’t sure if he was happy or disappointed when he’d found out that he was perfectly fine. Healthwise he was actually healthier than most his age, his brain looked fantastic. His father seemed just as torn as he felt. At least if it had been something with his health then he could have fixed it, but now that they knew it wasn’t, he wasn’t sure what was going on.

His dad had made some calls and Scott would be going to visit one of his friends, a psychiatrist. He felt ridiculous, hopeful, scared. Part of him just wanted to keep things as they were, live in his dreams where he felt safe and loved and happy, but the other part wanted to be able to live, to always be happy, to really love.

He couldn’t keep avoiding it, pushing it off. It was time to admit he needed help.

___

“So this is the infamous clearing.” Avi looked around. “It’s really pretty if nothing else.”

“It is.” He walked over to the stream. “The strange thing is I don’t remember ever actually coming here, except in my dreams.  Actually… I remember waking up here once. I’d camped out for no reason. It was so weird. That was the day I vowed to never ever drink again.”

“Well, someone was here.”

He turned to look at his friend and nearly had a heart attack as he saw what he was looking at. He hurried over to the tree and ran his fingers over the carved heart.   “It’s real.” He whispered.

“Is that him? M?”

“I …  I don’t know.” He couldn’t seem to pull his fingers away.

“Want some time alone?”

He just nodded, still staring at the tree, not quite believing his eyes.

“Let me know if you need me.” Avi gave him a quick pat on his shoulder before heading back to the house.

He ran his finger along the M, an ache sitting in his chest as he did. “Who are you?” he whispered out to no one and rest his forehead against the bark.

“Ed’ i’ear ar’ elenea...”

It was a tiny, quiet voice, a voice he definitely didn’t recognize. He looked up and then around but didn’t see anyone.

“Hello?”

He saw the eyes before anything else, large shining swirls of orange and peach there in the shadows.

He narrowed his own as he tried to see. “Who’s there?”

He had to take two steps back as the shy figure slowly came from behind a tree and out of the shadows. She was beautiful, STUNNING. Her skin was almost pearlescent, pale and unmarred. Her eyes were large and framed by dark, full lashes. Her hair reached down past her hips, a shiny pastel lavender.

He was rendered speechless as he watched her.

“Lle quena i’lambe tel’ Illyrian?”

He double blinked and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”

She seem troubled momentarily, but her eyes seemed to shine with a blue ring for just a moment.

“Are you… Scott?”

He furrowed his brow. “How do you know my name?”

“I need your help. I know you do not remember, but I can help you.”

“I don’t .. who are you?”

“I am Oryn and Mitchell is my friend.”

There was that name again, it was like a slap in the face. The ‘M’. Mitchell. Mitch.

A flash of daydream pulled him into his mind.

___

“There you are! Where’ve you been? It’s been 3 days. I was so bored! I missed you! ”

He couldn’t help but gasp as white with dots of black looked up at him. He’d never seen his eyes like that before. “Mitchie?”

Tears slid down those sculpted cheeks, and he hurried over to wrap him in his arms. The other boy immediately clung to him, crying into his chest.  

“My mother… “ He began. He looked up at Scott with a look that broke his heart. “My mother was killed.”

He didn’t know what to say or do so he just squeezed him tighter. They ended up on the ground, leaning against a rock as he held him in his arms, both of them crying for Mitch’s loss. He couldn’t imagine losing his mom. He lost his grandma and that was hard enough.

“I wish I could have met her. I bet she was pretty.”

Mitch nodded. “The prettiest there ever was.”

“If she looks like you then yeah.”

Mitch snuggled closer into the young man’s arms. “Scott, please do not ever go away.”

“Best friends don’t leave each other. You’re stuck with me.”

Mitch laughed sadly through his tears. “I like your hugs.”

Scott smiled and squeezed him a bit tighter. 

-----

He frowned as he was brought back to reality

“You’re like him.”

As she tilted her head, expression sad and hopeful at the same time, her hair parted to let the pointed tip of her ear through.

He had a sudden moment of panic. “You’re not real. He’s not real. This is… this is crazy. I’m hallucinating.”

“I am very real. Please do not send me away.”

He frantically sent a text to Avi, needing someone else to confirm that he wasn’t completely mental. There was no way. This had to be a trick. He turned back to the creature. “What are you?”

She began to back away cautiously, responding to the negative aura suddenly surrounding him.

“This is insane. You aren’t real." 

They stood staring, neither really moving. Neither knew what to do or say so they remained at a standstill.

“He is lost without you.”

“Who is?”

He turned away from her as he heard approaching footsteps, but by the time he’d turned back she was gone.

“No! Wait, come back! He’s my friend.”

Avi finally stepped back into the clearing. “What’s with the 911.”

He shook his head and laughed at himself a bit. “I really am crazy, Avi. I'm officially certifiable. I was hallucinating. I swear I saw one, a girl. She was NOT human.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “What is wrong with me.”

Avi didn't even try to hide his concern.

“We’re going to get you help, I swear.”

“She was so real, beautiful and- “ he sighed.

“-Scott…”

He looked up and followed his friend’s line of vision. The girl was back, looking even more nervous than before. She stayed close to the trees, ready to run at the first sign of danger.

“Do you see her?” He looked at Avi and watched as he slowly nodded.

“Who are you?” Avi’s deep voice startled the girl so badly she hopped up onto a tree branch as if it were perfectly normal to jump 10 feet into the air.  “I’m sorry, i’m sorry.” he lowered his volume. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She watched warily from her perch.  “I am Oryn. We are not supposed to tell humans, to let them see us. It is dangerous.”

“I won’t, I mean we won’t hurt you. I swear.” Avi tried to control his volume and to somehow seem less threatening.

She still seemed unsure and clung to her tree.

“You said he’s lost, and you said I don’t remember. Why don’t I remember?” Scott felt a bit more confident now, now that Avi  saw her too. Maybe there was an explanation somewhere in all of this insanity.

She hesitated but stepped from the branch and landed light as a feather on the ground. She took 3 steps closer, but still out of arm’s reach if she needed to run. “You told other humans. You told them about our people, about us, about him. He warned you. You knew the cost and you did it anyway.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When you invited the gang back here and told them about your boyfriend. You told them the truth.” Avi was kind of staring at Scott, a mixture of disbelief and guilt on his face. “No one believed you.”

“I can give them back to you. I can remove the barrier so you can you remember, if you would let me.”

His first reaction was to beg for his memories if he needed to, but then he really began to think about it.

“Did he do something to me? Is he the reason I can’t love, or be happy? Did he curse me?”

Her eyes widened and she shook her head no, eyes practically fluorescent orange as she stepped forward. “No! He wanted you to be happy. He always said knowing you would find love again, that you would be happy, it gave him strength. He has not smiled once since he left you. He is broken without you.”

“Well whoever he is, he was wrong. I can’t love, I can’t be happy. I’m miserable.”

“Scott, maybe those memories can shed some light on the situation. I mean you’ve been dreaming about him, painting him… it’s gotta mean something.”

“Wait, If you aren’t supposed to tell, then why are you here? Why are you talking to us?”

She looked at her feet and then back up to his blue eyes, flecks of white appearing amongst the orange in her own. “Because he lost all hope. I watched him cry, watched him fade until he could take no more and took the final step off of the overlook. His body is in pieces.”

He tried to decipher that, not wanting it to mean what he thought it did. “Is he… dead?”

She shook her head. “I think… his body should heal in time, but I fear the constant dimming of his light. Our prince is dying without you.”

“Prince?” Scott’s eyes widened.

“This is … I can’t …Wait a minute, does he live in a castle? Like royalty prince!? Oh my gosh, are dragons real?”

Scott shot him a look and the sad girl regarded him as she tilted her head the opposite way.  “Of course they are real. There are many kinds of dragons.”

“I KNEW IT! I TOLD YOU!”

His outburst sent the skittish female back behind the trees again.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, i’m sorry! I just got excited! Please come back!’

“Avi.” He smacked his arm.

She was cautious, but after a few seconds she returned.

“I didn’t mean to startle you.” He apologized. 

“It is alright.” She tilted her head again as she stared at Avi, eyes slowly transitioning to a pretty teal color.

Scott nearly laughed at the way they both seemed completely intrigued by one another, each seeing the other species for the first time. He could tell Avi wanted to get closer, to see her eyes, touch her ear. He was probably in heaven.

“So what do I need to do to get my memories back?”

That snapped her out of curiosities and her eyes became a bright neon pink as she turned to him and moved closer. “Just give me your hands.”

He didn’t like the fact that she seemed worried or maybe unsure, but by this point he was too desperate to think too much of it.

He held out his hands and felt a shiver as her tiny cold ones took hold of his.  

“He is stronger than I, but I believe I can do it.” She spoke with conviction, mostly to herself. 

He looked down into her eyes, becoming almost hypnotized as they began to glow a bright royal blue, strands of magic sliding from her fingertips to wrap around his arms. He didn’t feel a thing.

Oryn searched and nearly jumped for joy when she felt the resistance of the barrier and also when, after a few tries, it began to dissipate after too much of a struggle. The bond they shared must have been slowly wearing through, weakening it's hold, but now her magic cleaned up the debris and soon it was all clear.

He fell back onto his bottom right in the middle of the grass.

Avi hurried over to him. “Are you ok? Can you hear me? Scott?”

He put a hand to his chest as he remembered everything. He remembered every moment, every laugh, every kiss, every touch. “He left me.” He seemed lost.

“He did not want to.” The fae leaned against one of the trees, hoping for some borrowed strength, but was disappointed to find them nearly void of magic.

“I’m so stupid. I got so drunk. How could I-” He just stared off into the distance as he let it all sink in.

“Do you remember?” Avi asked.

He just sat there for a moment before frantically pulling up the sleeve of his shirt, sighing in relief as he saw the golden lines still swirled around each other exactly as they were before. He couldn’t help himself as he gripped it, thinking of Mitch just as hard as he could, but then he remembered Oryn’s words.

“He’s hurt!”

She nodded slowly. “He is.”

“So heal him!” He scrambled to his feet.

She shrank back at the volume of his voice and his sudden movement. “The trees are trying to heal him, but it will take a very long time. He should be ok.”

“Can’t you just give him a healing potion or whatever he called it?”

“I do not have any.”

“I do. He gave it to me for my 12th birthday.” He was a bit overwhelmed, frightened and yet his mind was swimming with information.  “The broken star. I should have known. How could I forget him.” He turned to Avi. “The purple bottle.”

“You should come with us to get it.” He turned his green eyes to the girl.

“I do not think that is wise. If someone sees me…”

“Can you get it, Avi? My keys are on the dresser in my room. Please?”

He nodded. “It’ll take awhile. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He turned and took off for the house.

Scott startled the fae once again by taking her hand, his eyes desperate. “Please let me see him.”

Her lashes moved in a flutter as she continually blinked. “I do not think-”

A tear slid down his cheek. “Please. I need to see him. Amin mela lle”

Her eyes widened at his attempt to speak her language. He’d said it wrong, but it didn’t matter, she understood all the same. ‘i love him’.

“Come. We must be careful and you must listen to every thing I tell you.” She pulled him towards the veil hoping she wasn't about to make the worst mistake ever.