Chapter 2
Wylie finds me eventually. I guess it’s inevitable. I am lying down, on the ground, blending in with the leaves and mud. Still clutching that picture. The pill has made me drowsy. Tired. Calm. I don’t fight much, when he pulls me into my house. I am listless. I don’t move, don’t eat, don’t talk, just sit there, drowning in my subconscious. I think someone arrives, at one point. Perhaps it’s Tam, or maybe Elwin? I am half-awake. The pill does that. If you want a real sleep, you must take many. No, I am pretty sure it’s Tam. Is it? There’s someone else as well. I take more pills. I lie down. I rest.
I dream, for once. The pills don’t normally cause dreams. I dream of me and Marella, when we were younger. In that picture. We were visiting the Forbidden Cities, and we were at a beach in Hawaii, when we stumbled upon a wedding. The bride was covered in flowers, everywhere, on her dress, her veil. There was no groom. The other bride wore a long, more traditional, white dress, but also had a flowered veil.
“I want to look like that.” Marella tells me, “When we get married. I want to look as beautiful as her.” I am happy.
“Don’t worry.” I tell her. “You already look that beautiful, every day.” She laughs.
“That sounds super corny, Linh! Jeez, I just meant, on our special day, I want to look even better.” Now she has mentioned it twice. Would she really marry me?
“When you picture yourself.. is it really with me?”
Marella takes my hands. “Of course, Linh. I love you.” Then she kissed me, and it felt different then all the other times. We spent the remaining time in Hawaii planning our wedding. The wedding that will never happen. Not now.
Then, suddenly, it stops. Everything. The medication ceases. They leave me with nothing left in the bottle. They’re gone. They left. And they took my pills with them. I try to get out of the bed, when suddenly strong arms push me down. Wylie. So he is still here.
“Stop!” I tell him, sternly. “I need my pills.”
“No, Linh.” He says softly. “When I called him, Elwin made a decision to withdraw the pills. You’re addicted.”
“Who was here?” I remember the figure I saw.
Wylie looks at me strange. “What do you mean?”
“When you pulled me in, people came. Tam, or Elwin?”
“No. Nobody’s been here.” I am confused now. I am certain I saw people. I hardly have time to dwell on that thought, because Wylie has gone into the kitchen. He comes out with a 3-course meal. “Eat up,” He says. I eat, and fall asleep. This is our routine for the next week or so. I wonder where he gets the food. I guess he goes shopping while I sleep. Every day, I wake up and expect him to be finally gone. But every day he is still here. Taking care of me. Feeding me. Treating me with care. I want to be angry at him, for doing it now, but it would be wrong. Disrespectful. Rude. So I go along with it.
“Wylie.” I ask him one day. “Why are you caring now?” My question catches him off-guard, and he takes a moment to answer.
“I guess I’m making up for lost time.” He opens his mouth, as if to say something, then closes it again. Then opens it. He finally speaks. “Linh, I really am sorry about Marella. I wasn’t thinking earlier.” I am going to speak, but he holds out a hand. “I was being selfish. I know that you loved her more than… anything.”
“Still do.” I mutter.
He ignores my comment. “But please, let me take care of you. When I was kidnapped by the Neverseen, you stayed by me. Remember?” I want to tell him yes, I do remember, but that would be lying. I don’t. Nothing is very clear anymore. All my remaining memories are of her. So, I say nothing. I see Wylie’s face fall. “Do you really not remember?”
“I don’t remember a lot of things, Wylie.”
He sighs. “Well, do you at least remember when we went water-skiing together, in the Forbidden Cities? Or maybe when we spent the week sleeping under the stars?” He is getting more excited now. “Or, or- when we” He searches for a moment. Then he seems to find one. “Or… Linh, do you even remember when we broke up?”
“No.” I say, right away. “To all of it. I don’t remember much at all.”
“Oh.” Wylie says. He moves to the kitchen, awkwardly. I hear him as he shuffles around awkwardly, preparing lunch. He comes back a few minutes later with some blitzenberry muffins. I grab at them, greedily. Then I remember something, as I pick at the wrappers on the muffins.
“I remember when me and her made blitzenberry muffins.” I say to myself. Wylie
looks surprised that I said this. “The berries were so delicious, we ate them all when we were making them, and we ended up eating plain muffins. It was still good.” (Shamelessly stolen from Steam, the other Marelinh fanfic I wrote/co-wrote 🙃)
“Oh.” He said. “That sounds nice.” I nod. We eat for a few minutes, in silence. Not the awkward kind, though. The kind that feels comfortable, and right. It gives me time to make a decision.
“Wylie.” I say finally. “Please, tell me how we broke up.”
Pingalings (Sorry it took so long):
@Saladsmom S
@Dexiana4LIFE
@AdaChenIsTired
@FollowTheDxrknesss
@Moonlark102012
@Sophie is the best
@Shadow and Light am I right?
@-insertbrainrotwordshere-
