Page 8 of Heart Shaped Wreckage (standalone)

LANDON

“You’re sure that this is ok? I hate to be a bother.” I snuggled into his soft couch as he lay a blanket on top of me and tucked me in.

“Yeah,” he smiled down at me. “Until we know more about your… er… condition, or until you remember who you are, I think it’s safer for you to stay here.”

He sounded concerned, and that made me think I should be more concerned.

“If that’s what you think.” I swallowed the lump that had grown in my throat. “I should be scared?”

“No. Not necessarily. We have no idea what happened to you, and honestly, if you have amnesia or if this is some magical element at play, it’s better if you're not wandering around on your own. We’ll see if we can find a doctor for you to see. Until then, you’re safe here with me.”

“You do make me feel safe.”

“Good. I’ll do my best to… well… protect you, I guess. No one will bother you in this place. I can promise you that.”

“Do you think that I might have hit my head. I have a feeling that I might be a little clumsy.”

“I smell the magic attached to you, but I can’t tell if it’s… No, I don’t think you hit your head. But maybe someone in the village tomorrow will know you. We’ll see.”

“I think that I’m really lucky that I knocked on your door. Thank you, Heath. You’re a very good person.”

“I am not a…” He stopped and tucked the covers tighter. I felt like a burrito. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

“Good. I think that I was meant to meet you.”

“Stranger things have happened.” He reached down and brushed some of my hair off my forehead. “Now, I think that it’s best you get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.”

“What if I don’t like the answers? What if I’m the bad person?” The thought had crossed my mind. Why else would someone curse me if that was what had happened?

“I don’t think you are. You’re too cute to…” He blushed, and I grinned happily.

“You think I’m cute?”

“For a human, you are indeed quite tolerable.” He glanced away and turned his back to me. “If you need anything, I’ll be in there.”

Without another word, he walked into his bedroom and closed the door.

I squirmed underneath the covers and looked.

He had left the door ajar. I snuggled under the tight blankets and thought incredibly hard.

The trouble was I didn’t know what I was supposed to be thinking.

If I just knew one thing about me, I knew that it might help me to learn more, to remember something of importance to who I might be.

I just needed a clue to help unlock the memories that had to be inside me. I just didn’t know how.

Heath would figure it out.

Heath seemed very knowledgeable about things. I could trust him, and I had no idea how I knew that to be true, but I did. I could have knocked on any of the doors, but I chose to come here to his and to find him for some reason I couldn’t comprehend.

Fate.

Maybe?

I knew the word, and I knew what it meant, but I could not understand how something so vague and unknowable was known to me.

Magic?

My feet tingled.

I smelled of magic? I mean, that’s what Heath said. I couldn’t smell it, but he… Well, I knew he wasn’t exactly human, didn’t I – even if I couldn’t understand how I knew that, I did. If he wasn’t human, what was he? If I smelled like magic, what was I?

The questions made my head hurt. I should just go to sleep and…

Maybe that’s what I needed? Maybe tomorrow I will wake up and I will know something that I don’t know right now. It was a foolish thought, but it was all that I had. Well… I also had Heath. He was…

Saying that Heath was handsome was an understatement.

His muscles were so big that they made my heart race. His dark hair and eyes that were almost black made my skin tingle in ways I was sure it never had before. He wasn’t just handsome – he was magnificent in every way.

The kiss…

The way he grabbed me and held me… Even the memory of it made my skin hot.

I might not have a lot of memories right now, but that one was special.

The way his tongue slid against mine and his hot, sweet breath made my cock throb was…

Well, it was something more than special. It was my favorite memory.

Not like I had a lot.

I wish he had kept kissing me. Cute… He had said I was cute. But the way he blushed when he said it… It meant more.

A blanket of sadness fell over me. I could feel it descend and smother me with its heaviness.

How could I have anything if I didn’t know who I was? Maybe I did have a life somewhere, and someone was scared that I had disappeared. Maybe someone loved me? Maybe I loved someone?

How was it ok for me to have feelings for someone new if I already had someone somewhere else?

You don’t.

I shot up from my bed on the couch and struggled with the tight covers as I sat up and glanced around. It wasn’t a voice… but it was…

That was not my own thoughts. It couldn’t have been, but I was in here alone. Nothing moved, and the shadows stayed silent. I continued glancing around the room and finally came to the startling realization that I was alone.

Magic?

Not everything real can be seen. Was that… me? The real me that was locked inside, trying to be heard, perhaps? Maybe… But it might have been something else. Someone or something who had done this to me might be here, too.

I slid out from beneath the covers and felt my feet hit the hardwood floor.

I looked around once again and decided that being alone was not going to be the right decision for me.

I stood up, padded carefully and quietly against the floor, and slowly opened the door to Heath’s room.

“Are you awake?” I whispered as I walked into his room. The moment I crossed his threshold, I felt instantly safer.

He didn’t answer, but I could hear his soft breathing slow and strong in the darkness.

I felt around on the floor with my feet so I didn’t trip on anything, and reached out with my hands as I found the base of his bed.

The moonlight shone through his window, and I could see him sleeping under his covers.

I made my way to the other side of the bed and tried not to wake him as I pulled the covers back and slid in.

He was so warm.

I cuddled against his back and heard him sigh heavily as he turned around before taking me into his arms and holding me tightly. His arm around me made me feel safe and happy. I snuggled closer, and before I could even know it, I was asleep.