Chapter 3
Reggie was starting to piece together bits of the two year gap. It had been two weeks since the accident when he was at work, apparently just before he met Nick he opened a book store, which shouldn’t have surprised him since he loved to read. None of the others would tell him how he could afford opening the store, saying he didn’t need to relive it twice. He was behind the counter when a girl came in.
“Hi! I know this is weird, but I was walking past and I saw you. You’re really cute so I was wondering if I could get your number?”
“Oh, uh, I’m sorry, no. I’m seeing someone.” Reggie didn’t plan the response, but when it came out, it felt right. He knew he cared about Nick, even if he didn’t remember loving him yet. He didn’t want to hurt him.
“Oh, okay, I’m sorry!” The girl laughed awkwardly, ducking back out the door.
“She was pretty.” Reggie almost jumped at the voice, seeing Luke step out from behind a row of books. He’d forgotten he was there.
“Yeah, so?”
Luke shrugged, “I’m glad you decided to try it with Nick. You guys might’ve been the greatest love story I’ve ever seen.”
Reggie cocked his head to the side, “What does that mean?”
Luke shook his head, “Regs, I love you and all, man, but I don’t know if I should tell you about before. Nick was pretty insistent that he didn’t want you to be reminded of him. He wants you to make your own opinions.”
“I get that, Luke. But I spent a year and a half with him and I can’t remember any of it.” Reggie sighed, “Can you just tell me what we did for our first date?”
Luke watched Reggie for a minute, debating whether to answer, before he sighed, “Karaoke.”
“We did karaoke?” Reggie laughed, “Seriously?”
Luke nodded, “It was a double date. You and Nick with me and Carrie. She insisted on it when she found out your date was her best friend.”
“Carrie and Nick are best friends?”
“Uh, yeah. You were talking about him after he called you, and Carrie had already heard him talking about you, so she called both of you to the karaoke bar to make sure neither of you backed out of the first date, and so that neither of you could get nervous ahead of time.” Luke was smiling fondly when he finished speaking, and Reggie felt the buzzing in the back of his brain again. He swayed a little bit on his feet.
Reggie walked into the bar, catching sight of Luke almost immediately. As he dropped into the seat across from his best friend, he noticed there was a guy beside him, “Oh, hey! What brings you here?”
“I think a certain meddling friend.” Nick answered, grinning at the girl belting out the lyrics to Baby by Justin Beiber. “She thinks she’s clever.”
Reggie cocked an eyebrow, “Trying to set us up, I’m guessing?” Nick nodded, “Well, who says it can’t work?” Reggie grinned.
Nick looked at him, and Reggie took a second to completely take in the blonde. The way the lights shined off his hair and in his eyes. The relaxed nature of the way he sat, t shirt exposing his muscles arms. The colors of his eyes containing multitudes of mischief and calm at the same time. Reggie had a swooping sense in his stomach and he knew it was only a matter of time before he fell for those eyes. The two of sang Backstreet Boys together, and convinced Luke to sing Spice Girls with them. Reggie had a lot of fun that night, and when it was over, Nick kissed him. It was a short, chaste, goodnight kiss. But it still filled Reggie with warmth and safety.
“Reggie! Reggie, man, you okay?” The bassist blinked, looking up into Luke’s face, the guitarist was hovering over him, and Reggie knew that something was off. Luke wasn’t taller than him. He shifted and realized he was on the floor.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know, man, you were asking me about your first date and then you grabbed your head and collapsed. Are you okay?” Luke’s brow was furrowed in concern.
“Yeah, I’m, uh, I’m good.” His band mate slowly helped Reggie into a sitting position, “I was just remembering that day. I guess I should sit down when memories come back now. I can’t believe we got you to sing Wannabe.”
Luke laughed, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, Carrie still has that video on her phone. I have yet to live it down.”
When Reggie went home with dinner later that night, he found himself humming along to I Want it That Way. Nick was already home, raising an eyebrow as the black haired boy made his way in. “Someone’s in a good mood.”
“Some girl asked for my number this morning.” Reggie answered as he set the take out on the coffee table. He continued quickly when he saw the look pass over Nick’s face. “I told her no, for the record. I may not remember our relationship, but I told her I was seeing someone.”
Nick let out a sigh of relief. He opened his mouth to say something before he thought better of it. “Thank you. It feels weird to say thank you for that, but I appreciate you trying this again.”
“I remembered our first date today.” Reggie muttered, fiddling with his flannel sleeves. Nick nudged his hands with one of his own, letting Reggie play with his fingers. “You looked really good that night, in case I never mentioned it.” Nick smiled, leaning just a bit into Reggie’s shoulder.
“That explains why you were humming. You had that song stuck in your head for like two weeks after that night.” Reggie laughed, turning to press a kiss into Nick’s hair before he realized what he was doing. They both froze after his lips grazed the top of the blonde’s head. Before Reggie could focus on what he did, his brain buzzed again.
Reggie was leaning against the wall outside the gym, waiting for Nick. When the blonde came out, his surprise died out quickly, replaced with warmth and happiness. “What are you doing here?” He asked, wrapping his arms around Reggie’s torso.
“I missed you.” Reggie answered, kissing Nick’s forehead.
“I saw you at the bar last night.” Nick laughed, “You stopped by to pick me up from work just cause you missed me?”
“Come to dinner with me.”
“Did I-“ Reggie shook his head, “Did I come by your gym after the karaoke bar?”
“Yeah.” Nick answered softly. “You came by the next day to ask me out to eat on your own.” The soft smile on Nick’s face made Reggie’s heart beat faster.
“I want to remember everything.” He said seriously, “I want everything from my time with you to come back so I can remember how much I loved you. I see it in your face when you stop short of saying it. When you stop yourself from calling me some pet name or nickname because you’re afraid of how I’ll react. I just...I want to be the person you love again.”
Nick turned so he could face the man he loved so much, “Reggie, I meant it when I said I would wait. I’m not going anywhere. You are still the same guy. You may not remember the things we’ve done, or the things we’ve said, but you have the same personality that made me fall in love with you. And whether you remember things or not, as long as you want me to be here, I will be. Even if you don’t fall for me again, I’m not going to just leave you behind.” Reggie didn’t know he was crying until Nick hugged him.