Chapter Six - The memory break and the man caught inside it.
1324 Words
The apartment is suddenly too small.
Too loud.
Too full.
Asher pacing.
Amelia watching like a viper.
Cassian standing stiff and silent, hands buried in his pockets like he’s keeping himself from reaching for me.
My breath shakes.
“I think…” I whisper, steadying myself on the counter, “I remembered something.”
All eyes snap to me.
Asher steps forward, voice soft. “What did you remember, sweetheart?”
Sweetheart.
The endearment feels wrong.
Too smooth.
Too practiced.
I swallow. “I—I saw… someone kissing me.”
Asher’s face lights up instantly, like he expected this.
“Kissing YOU? Babe, that had to be—”
“It wasn’t you,” I say.
He stops.
Cassian tenses so hard I hear the fabric of his hoodie stretch.
Amelia’s smirk vanishes.
I close my eyes, pressing a hand to my temple. The memory flashes again—disjointed but sharp:
A wall.
Cold night air.
A hand in my hair.
Breathless laughter.
A whispered “just one more.”
And the face—
I can’t see it clearly yet, but I know one thing:
“It felt… wrong,” I say quietly. “Like something we weren’t supposed to be doing.”
Cassian turns his head away, jaw flexing.
Amelia looks like she’s about to choke.
Asher tries to recover fast.
Too fast.
“Well, yeah,” he forces a laugh, “you and I used to sneak around all the time. We weren’t exactly subtle.”
Cassian’s eyes snap to him.
A warning.
Asher ignores it.
I shake my head slowly. “No. It wasn’t you, Asher.”
The silence that follows is heavy.
Cold.
Knife-sharp.
Amelia blurts out, “Maybe it was just a dream—”
Cassian steps forward as if she set off a tripwire. “Amelia.”
His voice is low.
Hunter-low.
She freezes.
Asher’s jaw tightens. “Let’s just sit down and—”
“No,” I whisper, suddenly overwhelmed. “No sitting. No talking. I just… I need air.”
Cassian reacts instantly, stepping toward the window and cracking it open for me.
Asher frowns. “I can do that—”
“But you didn’t,” Cassian murmurs.
Amelia stiffens. “Cassian, stop acting like some kind of—”
He turns on her slowly.
Softly.
Dangerously.
“Say it.”
She swallows. Hard. “Like—like you own her.”
His eyes flick briefly to me.
Then he says, voice unbearably gentle:
“I don’t own her.”
Asher opens his mouth like he wants to argue.
Cassian finishes, voice cracking just slightly:
“I just take care of what I love.”
The room freezes.
My heart stutters.
Even he looks like he didn’t mean to say it out loud.
Amelia stares at him, furious. “You told me you were OVER this. You promised—”
“Amelia,” Asher snaps, panic flashing in his eyes, “shut up.”
Cassian closes his eyes for half a second.
Regret.
Pain.
And something darker.
I whisper, “Cassian… did… did you love me?”
He opens his eyes.
Looks right at me.
And I swear the whole world narrows to the space between us.
His voice is barely audible:
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes. It does.”
“Sadie,” he says softly, jaw tight, “you don’t remember everything. You don’t know who you were. You don’t know—”
Suddenly Asher steps between us.
Inserting himself.
Blocking the view.
Grabbing the moment with both hands.
“Hey,” Asher says quickly, smiling like he’s in damage control mode, “let’s not get into feelings and all that messy stuff. You and Cass… you two had your phases.”
“Phases?” Cassian repeats quietly.
Amelia’s eyes widen.
Asher clears his throat. “Yeah. You know. The whole angry-stare thing you both did. It wasn’t—”
“What phases?” I ask.
Cassian doesn’t speak.
His silence is louder than Asher’s lies.
Asher laughs lightly. “Just drama. You two fought all the time.”
A flash hits me.
Not a fight.
A moment.
Behind the rink.
Cassian’s forehead resting against mine.
Me whispering something like, “We can’t keep doing this.”
Cassian whispering back, “Then tell me to stop.”
My breath catches.
Asher sees it and stiffens.
“Sadie,” he rushes out, “don’t believe every random image your brain throws at you. Concussions do—”
Before he can finish, Amelia snaps:
“God, Asher, you’re such a hypocrite.”
His head whips toward her.
“Amelia—”
“You’re jealous,” she spits, “because she always looked at HIM that way.”
Cassian’s entire body freezes.
Asher goes pale.
I whisper, “Looked at him how?”
The silence is suffocating.
Amelia smirks bitterly. “Like she’d drown for him.”
Cassian inhales sharply.
Asher explodes. “AMELIA, GET OUT.”
She flinches — but glares at me with something venomous before storming out and slamming the door.
The sound echoes.
I turn slowly toward Cassian.
He looks… wrecked.
Not by the accusation.
By the truth under it.
I take a step toward him without thinking—
some instinct deeper than memory pulling me forward.
Cassian backs up a step.
Like he’s afraid of what might happen if I get too close.
“Sadie,” he whispers, voice trembling, “you shouldn’t—”
“Did I?” I whisper. “Did I look at you like that?”
His eyes close briefly.
Then he shakes his head.
“You don’t remember.”
“But you do,” I breathe.
Asher clears his throat sharply. “Okay—let’s wrap this up. Sadie, come sit with me. Cass, you can cool off.”
Cassian stiffens. “She’s not going anywhere with you right now.”
“Why the hell not?” Asher snaps.
“Because she’s overwhelmed,” Cassian says quietly. “Because you’re pushing too hard. Because she doesn’t feel safe.”
“She DOES feel safe with me,” Asher fires back.
The lie hangs between us.
Heavy.
Ugly.
Obvious.
When I don’t move toward him, something under Asher’s smooth exterior cracks.
Just a hairline fracture.
Barely noticeable.
But it’s the beginning.
He exhales through his nose, forcing a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Fine. Sadie chooses.”
The room goes silent.
Asher steps forward, extending a hand. “Come sit with me.”
Cassian stays where he is.
Hands still in his pockets.
Head lowered.
But when I look at him—
I don’t see coldness.
I see fear.
Fear that I’ll choose wrong.
Fear that he’ll lose me again.
Fear that I’ll remember only the pain, not the truth.
My chest aches.
I swallow hard.
This shouldn’t be difficult.
I should go with the man I’m supposed to trust.
But my feet move the other way.
Toward Cassian.
I stop beside him.
Not touching.
But close.
Too close.
His breath catches.
Asher’s face goes flat.
Blank.
Mask dropping into place.
“Right,” he says softly. “Of course.”
He turns to leave.
But right before the door closes, he mutters:
“This was your job, Cass. Don’t forget that.”
Cassian’s jaw tightens.
The door clicks shut.
And suddenly we’re alone.
The tension between us hums in the air.
Slowly, Cassian looks up.
Not angry.
Not smug.
Not triumphant.
Just broken.
“Sadie…” he whispers. “Why’d you pick me?”
I swallow hard.
“I don’t know.”
I step closer.
“But it felt right.”
His breath shudders.
And for the first time…
Cassian can’t hide the emotion in his eyes.
He looks at me like I’m the beginning and the end of every truth he’s ever held.
Like I’m the memory he never forgot.
Like I’m the one thing he can’t survive losing again.
- Writer
