XxxxXXXxxxX

"Are you sure it's safe for Riley to go out in public?" Abi asked as she slipped a silky camisole over her thin frame in her and her husband's room. "What if he starts hyperventilating and faints again?"

Ben simply shrugged as he walked into their adjoining bathroom.

"I think he'll be all right, but I'm packing his inhaler just in case." Ben said, scrambling through their medicine cabinet where they kept Riley's spare medication.

"Speaking of which, have you been giving Riley his prescription?" Abi asked as she took off the camisole in favor of another shirt.

"Yeah, I picked it up on the day he got back and have been giving it to him twice a day like the label says."

"Any luck?" She asked, buttoning the flowery top.

"He knows how to type better, if that's any consolation." Ben mumbled the last part, fixing his hair in the mirror.

"How very fortunate for his computer but no use to us." Abi said huffily. She checked herself over in the mirror and was just about to slip on her jeans when Riley opened the door dressed in his hoodie, jeans, gloves, and beanie. "Riley!"

Riley's eyes widened and he quickly slammed the door. They could hear running down the hall and the slam of the main bathroom door.

Abi just looked at the door stunned, holding her jeans protectively in front of her. She looked over at her husband who wore a slightly miffed expression.

"Did you have to act so shocked?" he asked. "He didn't know you were in here like this and anyways, Abi, he's seen you in your bathing suit before."

This time it was Abi's turn to look angry. Her eyes darkened and she pursed her lips in a thin line.

"Ben, I was surprised. You can't get mad at me for being caught off guard without any pants on." She yelled angrily at the man. "He should have knocked. You don't lose your logic when you get amnesia, you lose your memory! You can't keep defending him like this! He's not a child!"

"He didn't know better." Ben ground out, looking determined. Riley was still his best friend and would protect him, especially in this state. "I'm going to go talk to him."

"He'll be fine, Ben, and I'm not finished here." She yelled. Ben ignored her though and walked out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. Rapping on the door, Ben leaned against it to hear any sounds. He could hear Riley sniffing on the other side pitifully.

The treasure protector would never admit it to anybody, but he had been hearing the same sounds from Riley's room these past few days. At night, he would walk over to Riley's makeshift room to check on him only to hear the faint sounds of sobbing. Every night he would get cold, hard evidence of just how tough this all was on the poor kid, and it broke Ben's heart more than he could imagine. He loved his wife, more than anything else in the world, but it was it was his innate reflex to protect what he cared for most when it was in danger. Whether that be treasure or his best friend, Ben would do everything in his power to make sure it wasn't hurt.

"I'm sorry," he could hear Riley say fearfully on the other side. Ben leaned his forehead against the door sympathetically. He couldn't deal with this.

"Riley, no, it's okay. Abi was just a little surprised. No harm done, you see?" Ben attempted to reassure. It was obviously going to take a lot more than just that though.

"I could hear her yelling though. You guys were arguing." Riley said, voice straining against the lump in his throat.

"Abi-Abi was just…" Ben was having difficulty coming up with an excuse.

"See!" Riley said, swiftly catching Ben in his lie. "She was mad."

"No, she wasn't." Ben tried again, sounding deliberate. "Not at you anyway. She was yelling at me."

"Why?" Riley's favorite question rung through the wooden door into Ben's ear. The young man must have said it over one hundred times these past few days.

"Because I was accusing her," The answer seemed to roll of his tongue, but he only realized the truth in it two seconds later.

"Why were you accusing her? It wasn't her fault." A voice of reason asked on the other side of the door. "I was just stupid enough to forget to knock."

"You aren't stupid. You're smarter than me, actually. It wasn't her fault."

"Of course it wasn't her fault, and, yes, I am stupid. Stop trying to tell me I'm not. I may not remember who you are or who I am, but I know for pretty darn sure that I'm not supposed to barge in on a lady dressing." Riley was happy there was a door blocking Ben's view of him or he would see the blush spreading across Riley's pallid cheeks. That, and his puffy eyes and red nose.

Ben wiped a hand across his face slowly. For being so smart, he could really get himself stuck in the stupidest situations.

"Riley, why don't you finish getting ready? I need to talk with Abigail." Ben said, walking back to his room. He knew it was redundant to leave these past two conversations halfway through but his plans had been pretty half-baked since his friend's accident.

Ben walked into the room to find Abi fiddling with her wedding ring and sitting on the bed with a gloomy look upon her face. He compressed the other side of the bed, looking at her apologetically.

"Abi, I'm sorry." Ben said. She turned to him, clasping her hands together and raising an eyebrow.

"I'm… Kinda sorry too. I was overreacting a bit." Abi said, looking down at the wrinkled comforter.

"Yeah, but I shouldn't be dropping everything to protect Riley. Especially since he's beyond this sort of thing." Ben muttered just loud enough for his wife to hear.

"Is he all right?" Abi asked, flicking her eyes up to look at him genuinely curious.

"I think so. He's pretty stressed out, forgetting everything does that to you." Ben said, causing Abi's mouth to twitch a little. She bit back the grin quickly, feeling sheepish for smiling at Riley's expense.

"Don't make me do that." She said, slapping her husband playfully. "It's mean towards Riley."

"Yeah, you can make it up to him though. The kid still thinks you're mad, and everything I'm saying just isn't getting through to him."

Abbie looked sorry and nodded before standing.

"The bathroom?" she asked.

"Yeah." Ben affirmed.

She left and a little while later returned with a clear-faced and happy Riley.

"You good?" Ben inquired concernedly.

Riley smiled in answer.

"Great. Are we ready to go?" He asked, looking expectantly at the pair.

"I am," Abi said, looking cozy in her puffy jacket, snow boots, hat, mittens, and ear muffs.

"Me too." Riley said, in nothing more than his hoodie.

"Uh, no, you're not." Abi said, staring critically at his so-called snow appropriate outfit.

Ben snorted at his wife's obvious logic and Riley scowled, looking down.

"Well, I'm not about to wear forty-five sweatshirts." Riley retorted. "It's not that cold; it's still November for crying out loud."

"Get a clue, Riley. You're not going out in 0 degree weather in just a hoodie. Go grab a coat from Ben's closet."

"But it'll be too big." Riley whined, crossing his arms vehemently.

Ben would support Abi in this decision if he wasn't too busy laughing at how familiar this scene was. God, he never would have thought he would be thankful for their bickering but the scene almost brought tears to his eyes he missed it so badly.

"Riley, I have a smaller one that you can wear," Ben assured. Riley snapped his head at him, as if the man had just betrayed him.

"Fine then." Riley said, marching to the closet in a huff.

Abi was smirking.

"I missed that." She said.

"Me too."

XxxxXXXxxxX

I put on the coat. Pshaw, smaller my left foot! The coat was massive. Read was massive compared to me. The sleeves ran past my hands and the coat itself hung past my waist. I had the inborn sense to continue whining about it for some reason, but somehow knew Read and Tweed would ignore me. That was weird… Maybe it was a memory of things past? If it was, it was a sour one at best.

I walked out of the room and Read and Tweed smothered their giggling through their hands at the sight of me. I growled but Read walked over and rolled up the sleeves.

"See that isn't so bad." He said. "Look at the bright side: at least you won't catch a cold."

"With a coat this big, I'm pretty sure I'll catch everything." I said. The husband and wife chuckled and their laughs made me feel warm. Huh, that was weird. I really liked making them entertained.

Abi and Ben went downstairs but I took a pit stop at my room to grab my car. I had been talking to it a lot lately, however lame that sounds. I would confide in the others but I still felt a little uncomfortable around them. Wouldn't you if someone knew more about you then you know about yourself? I realize talking to a toy car sounds over and beyond dim-witted but I just needed someone, or in this case, something, that knew about as much about life as I did.

I placed the trusty car in my backpack Read had given me. He said his wife had assembled it. Inside was all the medicine they had me on (painkillers, two medicine bottles for the amnesia, and now an inhaler? Is that what it was called?), a water bottle for the pills, and a card with emergency stuff on it.

"Give this to a police officer if you ever get lost and we'll find you," Read had instructed handing the plastic covered rectangle to me.

I looked at it for a second before throwing it back in. There was a cell phone in there too but Read told me not to use it unless I really had to. He didn't want me wasting the minutes because he said I usually did waste them with all my talking. I frowned. I didn't talk that much.

I slung the straps around my shoulders and headed downstairs, spotting Brit drinking tea at the bottom landing.

"Hello, Riley." Brit greeted, smiling at me. "How are you feeling?"

He asked me this the most. My usual answer was that my head hurt; an answer which usually had me taking one more painkiller than what I needed under Brit's orders. The painkillers made me tired and irritable so I lied a bit.

"Oh great, yep, awesome." I fibbed although my head was pestering me especially resolute this morning.

"Glad to hear it." He said, raising his mug in cheers. "Have you regained any memories yet?"

"I don't think so." I said uncertainly. If you counted the vague feelings I'd been getting in the past hour memories, then yeah, I suppose.

"Have you been taking your prescription?" He queried, looking at me steadily. I cringed. Danggit, I fell into that one!

"Yeah, Ben's been giving it to me, and I can't take any more than two a day." I added quickly. He nodded perceptively, catching my more than obvious hint.

"Are we ready to go?" Read asked for the second time that day, closely followed.

"Yep," I replied. Brit led me out the door as if I had somehow forgotten where it was. I hated when they did that. All three of these people were guilty of it too. Tweed was constantly reminding me to do something I already knew how to do (which made me want to do it less) and Read was constantly reminding me to not do this or that (which made me want to do it more). And, as you might have already guessed, Brit thought I was incapable of the smallest things.

I tugged my arm away harshly and climbed into the back seat while Brit walked around to enter through the other side, Read and Tweed getting the front.

I removed my backpack while Read turned on the car and rode out of the long driveway. The drive to the fair was pretty long and I passed the minutes amusing myself with my toy car since there wasn't much in my backpack to entertain myself with. I probably should have packed a book but I those things made my eyes itch with tiredness.

I asked Brit, who was talking on the phone with someone, if I could use his laptop but he gave me one of these glares which I returned with my own. His was, of course, scarier so I backed down and continued rolling my boring red car across my hand. I'd lost all amusement with it forty minutes ago and we'd only been on the road for ten.

I sighed a few times, made a weird noise with my tongue, and started a beat with my car on the seat before Brit snatched it away. I protested but he pointed a warning finger at me, telling me to be quiet. I sulked for the next two minutes. Brit finally finished talking and snapped his cell phone shut.

"Give me my car back," I ordered, placing my open palm out.

"Ben, why did you give him this?" Brit asked, ignoring my demand and opening one of the doors to my miniature Ferrari. "He's grown an abnormal attachment to it. Are you sure that's healthy?"

"It's healthy," I objected hotly, trying to grab for it. Brit slapped away my reach though.

"Let's see how long you can last without it then, shall we?" Brit proposed, holding the car up and looking at me daringly.

"No way." I immediately declined with a defiant look. "I'm not taking your challenge just because you're impatient. Give me back my car."

"See, Ben? He's completely rabid without his toy. How could you let this happen?" Brit said. I growled, infuriated at the man next to me. I wanted to strangle him with the seatbelt but thought better of it.

"Fine." I grounded out. "I'll go without it for one day but then you have to give it back."

"Fine." He stated simply, looking pompous like he'd won the fight. He slipped the car into his coat pocket and my eye twitched noticeably.

"We're here." Tweed announced. The husband and wife had largely been ignoring the argument in the back seat. I looked at the fair through the front window and gasped loudly.

There was a huge wheel with tons of people on it. I asked Tweed about it and she explained that it was a Ferris wheel. We all exited the car and bought tickets into the park, all the while with me staring at the "Ferris wheel" with an awed expression upon my face.

Little kids ran around the place. There were a lot of games and other rides lined up against the gates. It smelt of sugar and cinnamon, which made my stomach growl, reminding me that I had forgotten to eat that morning.

"Do you want to ride it?" Read said, noticing my eyes latching on to the huge wheel once again. I shook my head quickly. He looked at me a little concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just- I think I'm afraid of heights." I admitted, looking down.

"What do you mean you 'think' you're afraid?"

"Well, I don't know if I really am or not... Was I afraid of them before?" I asked. At this question, Read seemed to look a little guilty. He definitely knew something I didn't (which wasn't really breaking news, if you thought about it.). I wanted to ask him about it but he turned away and whispered something to Tweed who nodded.

"Um, Riley, why don't you hang out with Ian?" Tweed said, looking to Ian who had become distracted momentarily by a game in one of the booths. He looked at her questioningly. "Ian, Riley is afraid of heights, remember? So he can't go on the Ferris wheel with Ben and me."

There it was again! Brit was making the exact same guilty face as Read was! What heights had to do with it, I had no clue. Brit only nodded mechanically at Tweed's forceful words.

"Yeah, sure, I'll stay down here with him." Brit said in this fake tone, placing an arm around my shoulder. I resisted the urge to shrug it off as Read and Tweed made their way over to the death trap. Brit turned to me, "How 'bout a game?"

I nodded and he handed my backpack to me, which I had accidentally left behind in the car (good thing Read didn't notice), to pull out his wallet. We strode over, avoiding small groups of children, to the game stall. He handed a five dollar bill to the lady running this cowboy shooting game, and, in return, was handed a toy gun to shoot the outlaws with. I watched in amazement as he masterfully handled the gun, just like the action movie Read and I were watching together the other day.

I watched with amazement as he shot two cowboys in the head with no misses. I glanced over at him to better study his form (since my turn was next) when I noticed something familiar about the whole thing. My heart started beating as I strained my mind for what was so memorable about Brit.

I couldn't place my finger on it. It was frustrating! I continued to stare intensely as Ian focused and shot the gun clasped in his right hand. I couldn't take my eyes off of him if I tried. This image- what made it so darn recognizable? I heard my heart beating in my ear. I had to remem-

"Tell me what I need to know, Ben, or I'll shoot your friend here." A gun was turned on me suddenly. I was in a cold, snow-covered room, and my heart had just started beating like a jackhammer at the sight of Ian and his weapon facing me a few feet away.

I tried to hide myself behind a frosted, wooden column, suddenly covered in cold sweat.

"Hey," I tried hastily.

"Quiet, Riley!" I heard Ian shout. Ben's eyes glanced at me and then back to Ian fearfully.

What? Was that an actual memor-

"lan, why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together?" I pleaded, looking up at the man who was slowly elevating himself up a long, upwards tunnel.

He stopped the strange wooden contraption to pull a gun on me and I froze.

"Don't speak, again." He said, obviously miffed.

"Okay," I answered slowly, eyed trailed fixedly on the gun.

I snapped out of it, finally regaining my sense of composure. I stared at Ian (he wasn't 'Brit' anymore), fearfully backing away. He was distracted as he chose out a prize so my backpack and I bolted for it. I didn't know how to get out of here so I took a chance and dove over the counter into one of the game booths.

"Hey, if you're not a stuffed animal, you shouldn't be back here!" A pimple-faced teenager scolded me. I looked up at him, breathing heavily, hugging my backpack to my chest.

"I'm sorry; I'm just trying to hide from my stepdad." I lied through my teeth.

"Who? The big, blonde guy coming this way?" he asked me. My eyes widened and my heart beat harder.

"Stop chatting, and look up," I gritted through my teeth at the red headed adolescent. He quickly did as he was told and offered a smarmy smile as Ian approached the stall.

"Hello there? Up for a round of knock the pins down?" he asked.

"No, sorry." I could hear Ian say in his accented voice. "Have you seen a brown-haired young man? He's around your age, a bit older, with a navy blue backpack and a big jacket on. His name's Riley, and he might be in trouble."

I looked up to see the kid gulp visibly and wet his lips. My heart was beating at his inability to keep a believable ignorant face. Don't look down. Whatever you do, do not look down at me.

"Um, no, sir." He said. "I haven't seen him…"

I let out a sigh of relief. At least he could squeeze that out. There seemed to be a pause on Ian's part and I sucked in a breath again, thinking it might help me remain invisible.

"Okay thanks," Ian replied insincerely, shuffling off. The teen looked down at me and I offered him a grateful smile.

"You owe me," he stated simply.

"I know. Thank you." I said, peeking up over the counter to see the retreating form of Ian. I noticed him walking toward the Ferris wheel and realized he was probably going to break the news to Read and Tweed that I had run off. Not good. I needed to talk to those two about what I remembered. How in the world did they expect me to trust a man that almost tried to kill me, not once, but two times!? No reason would justify him as trustworthy, I reasoned. "Do you might if I stay in here a bit longer? I have to make a phone call."

"Oh sure, stay as long as you want. Have a margarita while you're at it. Is that floor treating you okay? We have a goose feathered pillows in the back if that would suit you better." The teen rambled on sarcastically.

"No, I'm fine down here. It's a bit stuffy but, hey, that's life, right?" I shrugged, equally sarcastic. The teen smiled at my similar sense of humor and shook his head, continuing his rallying towards the fair guests.

I unzipped my backpack and picked out the emergency phone. I tried to recall the way to the get to the menu and pick out a phone number but it wasn't working. I nudged the kid and he looked down.

"This phone: How do you get to the phone numbers list?" I asked. He raised his eyebrows haughtily.

"You seriously don't know how? Good god, you really are helpless." He took the phone out of my hands and pressed a few buttons. He handed it back to me suavely. "It's ringing."

I grabbed it hastily and stuck it to my ear. Read was already answering with a confused hello.

"Ben, Ben, Ben," I said, trying to grab his attention with his real name.

"Hello? Who's this? I can't talk right now." He started saying in a distracted tone.

"No, Ben, it's Riley." I said finally.

"Wait, what?" the voice on the other line asked quizzically. "Riley? Where are you? Ian and Abi just went off searching for you and I'm asking around the place. Just tell me where you are, don't move."

"Ben, Ben, I remembered something…" I said, ignoring Read's previous orders and saying the awful truth.

"Oh my god, wonderful! So, do you know who we are now? Ian, Abi, and me?" Read said hopefully.

"Not Abi and not you very much, just Ian." And even though we were on the phone, I could just picture Read's frowning.

"That's great," he said untruthfully.

"No, not great," I broke through. How could he say that? "Ben, do you know what Ian's done to me?!"

"Um-" Read began but I cut him off shortly.

"I got not one but two memories of him almost shooting me. God only knows how many times more he's tried!" I yelled vehemently, causing the teen to look down at him. I shot him a sheepish look before redirecting my focus to the man on the other line.

"Oh god, out of all the memories…" Ben murmured, sounding frustrated. I had my own frustrations to worry about, a major one being why we were hanging out with a killer this entire time. How could Read and Tweed talk peaceably to this man when they were obviously there for both near-shootings?! I groaned. My head was hurting a lot more than usual, and I thought recovering would mean it would throb less. "Riley, you don't understand. That was a long time ago."

"What?" I said, distracted from my head rubbing by the crazy man on the phone. "Ben, okay, I know I may have lost my memory and everything, yadda, yadda, but even I know a man like that doesn't deserve forgiveness-much less a place setting at the dinner table!"

"C'mon, Ri, let me explain. This memory you've had-It's complicated." Ben mumbled. My eye twitched at the comment.

"No, Ben, it's not. You're either for him or against him. Calling you was a mistake." Fed up with the entire, unexpected conversation, I hung up. I stuffed the phone in my backpack and curled my fists together shakily.

"Dude, are you all right?" the teen asked. I looked up into his mildly concerned eyes which were covered by shaggy hair.

"Yeah," I lied. "I-I just need to get out of here without anybody seeing me, okay? Any ideas?"

"Yeah, um, there's an employee exit out back. C'mon, nobody wants to play this rigged game anyway." The kid said, jabbing a finger at the buckets behind him.

I nodded gratefully and grabbed my backpack, slinging it onto back. We walked out of the booth towards the back entrance which was guarded by a locked, chain-linked fence. The teen spun in a code and clicked it open.

"I'm Riley, by the way," I said, offering a hand. He shook it and smiled. His smile faltered though as he looked past me. I quirked an eyebrow. What was his deal?

"It's nice to meet you, Riley, but I think you should really go." He said quickly, staring hostilely at something past me. I swiveled my head around and spotted Ian, who, in turn, spotted me. My eyes widened and it took a few minutes before my legs finally took action. I ran like a scared prey towards the road, forgetting the teen who stared a little bewildered between the two of us.

"Riley!" I heard my name being cried. I turned around to see how close he was behind me. If I kept running at the rate I was, I could probably lose him.

I turned back around and suddenly I felt like I had been hit with a ton of bricks. My side was numb and my world was taken out from under me. Suddenly I hit the ground headfirst, gasping. The last thing I saw was Ian staring down at me with concerned eyes. Psh, like he really cares if I live or die…

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

A/N: Well, I'm happy to be spitting up a rather lengthy chapter. Thank you your reviews. I was very happy to hear what you guys thought of the movie. I need to see it two more times in the theatres to make it five. I'm in love with the film. But .:gasp:. not as much as I love your guys' reviews. Those things I positively adore!

Have nice days,

-Sarah