It had been a month, but that was still not enough time to quell the worldwide buzz surrounding the news about the mind-controlled Zavlonians, the Yunies and Speck since the key parts of the police statements Rav, Camila and I gave from our homes a week after everything occurred had leaked the very next day.

   Pressure from world leaders, influencers and the masses forced the government to be sincere and transparent in how it would deal with the matter.

   Because of that, not even Speck's billions could save him from the heaps of criminal charges and lawsuits from Zavolonian parents, human rights organisations and other international bodies. His money, however, played the role of sponsoring the surgical procedure and treatment process on the brains of every mind-controlled person in the Tunnel to remove the remnants of the mind-controlled devices Dorian destroyed as well as the heavily sedated teachers.

   The driver in the vehicle I'd ordered pulled to a stop at my destination. I stepped out just in time to see Camila leaving the building with her parents.

"Hey, Cami!" I waved, running toward her. "Wait!"

"Hi, Beth!" She greeted me when I reached her.

"How are you?" I couldn't hide my surprise.

   I hadn't seen her in person since that night. Unlike Dorian, she hadn't suffered any major injuries. After she was discharged from the hospital, we would have met if not for her... restrictions.

   Due to Camila being a minor, her turning on Speck, contributing to ending his plans and cooperating with the police in every way, she was not punished for being Speck's accomplice.

   This didn't mean, however, that the authorities let her go without any consequences. Based on what her parents told me, she was under three-month house arrest, with the exception that she goes into the streets for community service (hence my shock that she was here) and therapy. She had no access to any forms of devices capable of communication, which included her phone, laptop and any of her other devices that could make talking with her possible.

"Good, good." She beamed once her parents gave us space. "You?"

"Yeah, me too."

   Then as if Cami was in my head a few seconds ago, she said, "My parents were able to pull some strings to get me out of the house once they heard he'd woken up."

   Huh. That made sense.

   Once she brought me to the reason I was here, I couldn't resist asking, "So, how is he?"

"He's... good," Her gaze dropped to the ground as she fidgeted with her fingers. "Not a scratch on him."

   I nodded, my eyes clearly urging her to go on.

   But when Camila looked back up, I was disappointed when she just stared down and muttered, "I don't want to keep my parents waiting so I'm gonna go."

   She strode off before I could say goodbye

   That was weird.

   But then again, who was I to judge? All I needed was a week for my minute social skills to be out the window if I was cooped up in my house with no one to talk to but Mum like Camila was with her parents.

   Shrugging that moment off, I turned to the Hooda residence, taking a deep breath as my fingers reached for the doorbell. Before they made contact though, the gate in front of me began to slide open, revealing the magnificent 50,000 square foot estate belonging to Rav's family.

   This scenery was not new to me, since I'd come here many times in the past month, but it always left me gaping in awe.

   I was drawn back to earth when I saw the main house from a distance, which itself constituted over 30,000 square feet of space with the many spacious rooms and facilities that always make me question how in the hell Dorian and Rav survived in our motel rooms that were pretty much microorganisms in comparison to this.

   I proceeded to sit in one of their hover carts which drove me from the gate, over the stone bridges built on a majestic lake, past the formal gardens, their working organic farm and four cascading pools, only stopping when I reached the main house.

   As Rav let me into the gigantic room, I was glad to say that he looked really good for the first time in weeks. The dark circles under his eyes had reduced and he actually looked like he'd put thought into showering and dressing up.

"Hey," he said with a small smile.

"Hi! Oh wait, almost forgot," I dug into my bag to fish out the comics I'd brought from home. "I brought these for him."

"They're great. Yeah, great." Rav nodded like his life depended on it, but didn't say anything more.

   A strange silence fell between us.

"So," I eventually said. "Lead the way?"

"Yeah, of course."

   More silence settled between us as I followed Rav, which I couldn't help pondering over. Even before Dorian had finally woken up this dawn and I'd come to visit him in his coma-like state, I'd gotten used to Rav being chatty. It seemed strange that he didn't share my chipper mood now that Dorian was awake.

   It was even weirder when we stopped in front of Dorian's wing of the house (which Rav had shown me when I first got a tour of the house) instead of continuing on to the pool house which had been turned into a temporary hospital for Dorian since he and the Hoodas left Zavlon and he underwent and treatment from the experts that had come to pick him from the tunnel.

   Rav, reading into my confused look, explained, "He was moved here today so we could be close to him."

"Oh, okay." I nodded.

"So, how's he doing?" As soon as we approached Dorian's room door.

   Rav's eyes moved to the floor as he toyed with the doorknob. "He's...good."

   I stopped short, taking his arm. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, avoiding eye contact.

   My stare narrowed, "You're reacting the same way Camila did when I asked her that. What aren't you telling me, Rav?"

   When Rav raised his head, I was met with glassy eyes that made my insides churn with worry. "You're right, Beth. I couldn't tell you this over text but Dorian—"

"Rav?" The voice of the devil himself streamed through the door. "Rav, are you there?"

   The need to freeze crept all over me, but my burning curiosity was too strong to let that happen. So instead of being paralysed with fear, I gave my knuckles three light raps on the door and held my breath for reasons I couldn't figure out as I walked into Dorian's room.

   The last time I'd been in here was when Rav gave me a tour of his home. At that moment, it reminded me too much of how Dorian had been before his injuries, consequently making it difficult to linger and observe like I'd done with the other places Rav had shown me.

   Now, however, the same coconut-lemon scent, Dorian's signature smell, that hit me upon entry in the past and repelled me made me want to never leave. Against the corner of one of the cream-coloured walls of his room was a large study table constituting neatly-arranged school books and machine parts which brought his Robotics Club to mind. Another side had a giant shelf constituting several awards from Robotics Competitions and piano recitals. There were also two bean bags arranged to face a giant TV scr–

"Beth?"

   His call of my name was softly-spoken, but my reaction could make a person think that it had the effect of a whip.

   The pace I used to meet his eyes was made slow by so much deliberate stalling.

   But eventually, I saw him.

   With the exception of the leaking crescents that only added to his extraterrestrial handsomeness, his face was devoid of any flaws. The head bandages which had shielded the cuts by the Neuroskel had been removed and showed nothing but baby smooth skin. The bruises Speck had inflicted on his cheek were no longer present and his overly-grasped jet black hair had restored its fullness and natural waviness that complied with gravity a little too much.

   Every fibre of my mind and body suffered amnesia from the kind of coolness I'd practised so many times at home in preparation for this moment. The minute I threw my comic books on his floor, nothing could stop my legs from running to Dorian's bed and jumping into his arms. I pressed my lips to his, feeling my inner parts come alive in a way that wouldn't have been possible until now.

   I pulled back to find us both trying to catch our breaths.

   But for some reason, Dorian looked at me with bulging eyes of shock. "Y-you're not just finding out that I'm an alie–I'm...different? How? Did something happen at the dance that I missed? Does the whole school know now?"

   At least that's what I thought I heard him say.

"The dance?" I repeated, after he didn't use the time I let pass to clarify what the hell that meant.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I remember asking you if you were okay after you–well, your avatar–had that panic attack and you said you were but the last thing I saw was you having this distressed look on, then this insane migraine attacked the side of my head and then..."

   Dorian kept talking, but the only thing I could bring myself to do was look at the movements of his mouth as my disturbed brain still struggled to piece together what was happening.

"Beth?"

"Huh?" I blinked several times to see his face clouded with worry. "Were you saying something?"

"Yeah, I was asking if you're okay now?"

   It was the sincerity laced with that simple question that set me off. But I caught myself just before the flood in my eyes could burst through..

"Beth?"

"I'm..." I untangled myself from our fingers I'd intertwined. "I'm gonna go."

"Wait, I—"

   I never got to hear the rest of Dorian's words were cut off since I dashed out of his room, slamming the door behind me.

   I would've made it through Dorian's wing without crying if a tug on my sleeve didn't cease my movements. Rav's glazed eyes landed on me before he pulled me into a hug.

"Tell me this is some kind of sick joke," I sobbed into his sweatshirt. "Please, Rav. Tell me this is a joke, please."

   I felt his head move side to side above me . "I'm sorry, Beth."

"No." I clung onto him tighter.

"The pressure by the Neuroskel adversely affected his brain. He really doesn't remember." Rav choked out each word of that awful truth. "His memories only date to him passing out as a result of the placement, which he doesn't even know about yet. I'm sorry, Beth."

"Well, why haven't you told him?!" I pushed him away with all the anger that exploded out of me. "Why didn't you tell me? Camila knew! How could you let me find out this way?!"

"I couldn't just text you something like this. And I would've told you, like I told Camila if you hadn't entered his room in such a hurry."

"You're acting like those minutes we used to get here are non-existent! You had enough time to let me know but you did no–"

"IT WAS HARD, OKAY?!" He yanked on his roots. "It is hard! Just like you, I only found out when he woke up today and I'm still trying to come to terms with that! Also, according to my parents, Dorian may never get it back and they don't want him to know anything yet until things are confirmed and they don't know how long that'll take. That's why he doesn't know yet! I just couldn't think of the perfect time or way to tell you or Camila or anyone really without it hurting like hell! I'm sorry. I'm just... sorry."

"Dorian won't get his memories back? Ever?" That part of Rav's speech that wouldn't stop playing over and over.

   He sighed, rubbing a palm over face. "That's yet to be confirmed."

"He won't remember anything," I said, feeling fresh tears well up.

   Rav beside me once more. "I understand how you fe–"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!"

"But I do understand how you feel! Aside from my parents, no one gets you more than I do," Rav said.

"When Dorian sees you, he sees the brother he has always and will always love. The same goes for your parents. When he sees me, the only person he recognizes is the weird, scholarship girl who everyone, including him, either hated or didn't give a damn about; the girl I used to be before all this happened. Even if you tell him eventually, it still doesn't change the fact that he himself will not remember me as the girl he shared a fall and a laugh with in my home, the girl he kissed, the girl he shared his bed with at night and a depressingly funny couple name with, the girl with whom he went on a date where he played her favourite songs and danced with her and sealed the promise that he'd never forget that night with a kiss. All the feelings he had for that version of me, like the version itself, never existed in his head. Meanwhile, I have to live with not just my feelings, but the knowledge of all that once was and is now forever lost. How could you possibly understand how that feels?!"

   As I proceeded to storm out of the Hooda residence, Rav did not stop me.

A/N: Poor Beth🥲.

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